Ruby: The Linchpin
by writersblock159
Summary: RWBY has finally beaten Salem, but the cost was far too high. Ruby fell in the final battle, and her loss has been felt keenly by her team. Sun has reached out to Jaune, requesting that he check in on the rest of the team. Something is off, and Jaune is about to find out just what it is... Part one of the Four Corners, Four Keystones cycle.
1. Because She Was My Sister-And Now

**Finally, it's being posted!**

**Thank you to everyone who did everything. Aer, Jenerilissima, Morrighan especially! Without my beta's there wouldn't be a fic!**  
**For anyone wondering, or a bit behind, this is a stand-alone piece. If you want to read the final moments, feel free to check out the first part, but it's not required by any means.**  
**Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that since I've offed the title character, it's pretty obvious that I don't own RWBY.**

* * *

_Sunny days seem to hurt the most,_

_I wear the pain like a heavy coat,_

_I feel you everywhere I go,_

_I see your smile, I see your face,_

_I hear you laughing in the rain,_

_I still can't believe you're gone._

_Who You'd Be Today- Kenny Chesney_

* * *

"Jaune, this is a bad idea." Ren's voice filtered through his scroll.

"I liked Ruby, Ren. We couldn't be there for her… at the end. The least I can do is check on her sister." Jaune sighed, annoyance coloring his voice.

"Everyone liked Ruby," Ren replied quietly, "but this is still a bad idea."

"Maybe." Jaune stared at the city slowly coming into detail over the water. "But I gotta go, I'll call you back later."

"Good luck, Jaune." Ren responded, "Nora and I will be in town later. Call us if you need us."

The ship chugged closer to Vale, and Jaune stared out across the water. He knew he was needed in Beacon. He had no doubt Yang was hurting, but right now he wanted nothing more than to take the next ship out.

Jumping into the water was an option too.

As he contemplated all the places he'd _rather _be going, a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"A couple years back I met a young Faunus who was traveling alone. I later saw someone who looked a bit like you, but with a tail, join her for the rest of the journey." Jaune turned to look at the source of the voice. An older man with a white beard, khakis and a polo shirt stood beside him looking out over the water. Jaune smiled at the old man's friendly demeanour.

"Captain."

The older man laughed, "I'm not a captain anymore, though I often find the call of the sea too powerful to ignore," he nodded to the ship, "hence my impromptu vacation." Waving his hand, the old man dismissed his own topic. "No matter. I didn't stop by to bore you with tales of my less than thrilling life. I came to say the same thing I said to the girl I saw."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, curious. "Oh?"

"Those who travel alone often have the most interesting stories."

The huntsman grinned awkwardly. "No interesting stories here, I'm afraid, Mr…?"

"Marvel. Phillip Marvel. Most people call me Phil." He paused for a moment, then muttered, "Though lately I've started to go by 'Doc' too."

"Jaune."

"So, Jaune. No interesting stories, huh?" Phil settled next to the young man and joined him in looking out over the sea.

"Afraid not," Jaune chuckled lightly. "I'm stopping by to see a friend, then I'll probably be on my way again." He glanced at the old man, who was still staring out over the water.

"You're not going to stay with them?"

Jaune shook his head, "I'll stay for a bit. But I have other people to see as well."

Phil looked at him. "If you don't mind, what has led to this visitation?"

The young man glanced at him before staring out at the slowly approaching harbor. "I got a call from an old friend a few weeks ago." He looked at Phil. "I'm here to help a different friend. She lost her younger sister a little bit ago and… I just got word that she hasn't been taking it well."

Phil looked at him for a moment before visibly reaching a decision. "How are you planning to help your friend?"

"However I can," Jaune answered immediately. "It might be as easy as a conversation or a fight, or she might need a little push. I just... want to help however I can." The older man shot him an inscrutable look as the blond added, "Dust, I hope it's not a fight. She'll wipe the floor with me if that happens."

Phil looked at him again for a couple moments before looking back out over the harbor they were entering. "I've spoken to many people over many years, and I like to think I can tell a liar from a genuine person pretty well. You, however, make me wonder if my bullshit detector has finally broken."

The young man laughed. "I swear everything I've told you is true."

Phil chuckled as well. "Well, I have no reason not to believe you, so okay." The two men fell into a companionable silence, watching the sailors and dockworkers scurry about as they docked. It wasn't until the first passengers began to disembark that Phil turned and faced Jaune fully. "I have one last question for you, young man: did you know this person who died?"

Jaune was fully prepared to give his stock answer of 'kind of but not really,' but the words caught in his throat. Phil nodded.

"Who's going to be there for you?"

Jaune sighed in defeat. "Ruby was the best of us. Fun, vivacious, optimistic. She made everyone around her believe in themselves and in her." He glanced out over the docks, at the throng of people leaving the ship. "After the fall of Beacon she kept in contact with everyone she could, even me, the kid who couldn't even figure out what his semblance was." He began to walk slowly off the ship, scooping up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder as he went. "She kept me going, encouraged me, and I'm trying to live up to what _I _think _she _would do if she…" Jaune tried not to think too hard about why he didn't want to finish that sentence.

"Ruby Rose?" Phil looked surprised. "I heard team RWBY had scattered."

Jaune shrugged, "It makes sense. I don't think there was a single person in school who hadn't pseudo-adopted her as their little sister. We all felt her passing, and some of us took it harder than others. For her team, it must have been a thousand times worse." The two men had reached the gangplank, and Jaune stopped. "This is where I leave you, Doc." The older man rolled his eyes at the nickname before putting his hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"I think she'd be proud of you."

"I hope so, but we'll never really know, will we?" Jaune shrugged off the hand on his shoulder.

With that he walked down the gangplank and onto the dock. As he made his way down the dock, he took a deep breath in. The smells of fish, rubble, and a hint of fire were such drastic changes from when he had been a student here. Then, the smells had been exhaust, fish, and bread. "_A calmer time has led to a harsher reality," _he thought. Vale was still recovering from the devastating Grimm attack. As he approached the street, it was apparent how much had changed.

The last time he had been here, many of the buildings close to the docks had been demolished, and what few had remained standing showed clear signs of Grimm habitation. The pavement had been torn up in places, while further in, rubble had littered the alleyways.

Now the destroyed buildings were slowly being cleared up and the Grimm presence had been eliminated. Further down the road Jaune could see a crew of construction workers beginning to repair parts of the street.

A new world was beginning. "_At the loss of so many." _Jaune nodded with a half smile as he shoved the bitterness out of his thoughts. It wasn't good to focus on what had been lost, not if he wanted to help others. Pulling out his scroll, he began to search for Yang's contact when something caught his eye. A group of teens were making their way down one of the ruined alleys. "_Well, this looks interesting."_

Following the group, Jaune realized quickly that they were hardly likely to be drug dealers; they were far too loud.

"I heard she used to be a huntress…"

"She single-handedly killed Salem…"

"Nah, I think that was some other girl; this one lead a charge on Atlas herself."

"I'm pretty sure that she's Atlesian, but I think she was _with_ Atlas."

Curious, Jaune narrowed his eyes in annoyance as they moved out of earshot. They could be talking about anyone, he supposed, but his gut said that they were leading him to someone in particular. Despite their apparent innocence, those who frequented dark alleys and destroyed buildings rarely had an agenda for good.

As they turned a corner, their voices were muffled a bit, and Jaune picked his pace up, slightly concerned that he might lose them. He needn't have worried, though, because as he turned the corner he was met with one of the biggest men he'd ever seen.

"Um, hey!" Jaune gave a little wave. "Can I get in, please?"

The huge man grunted, "Lien."

"About that," Jaune scratched the back of his head, "Lien's a bit tight at the moment, so how about something else like, say, an IOU?"

The big man folded his arms. "No Lien, no entry."

Jaune sighed. "How much?"

The man eyed him. "For you, no less than 120."

He stared at the bruiser disbelievingly. "How about no? Let's try 20."

"No. 80."

The Huntsman sighed as he eyed the massive bouncer wearily. "Um… can we... negotiate?"

* * *

"_Well, that's 40 Lien gone." _Jaune worked his way through the crowd that was inside of a partially collapsed building. Looking around the area, he could see several walls that had been shored up with scaffolding. The building looked like it should be condemned at this point, but the underground was still running the… "_What __**are**_ _they running?" _Jaune wondered.

The music blaring suggested that he may have stumbled on a hidden club, but there was no obvious reason to explain why it was out of the way like this. Grabbing a drink from the bar, he made his way to a table littered with half-empty glasses and discarded articles of clothing. He wasn't really sure why this was in the middle of nowhere, since he didn't see anything particularly illegal going on. No drugs were being passed around, and he didn't see any Dust either.

Jaune was moving through the dancers, still looking for _something _wrong, when the music quieted for a moment.

"For any interested parties, tonight's entertainment will be starting shortly through the west door. Bets are to be placed before entering the seating area, but can be changed until the match begins."

About a third of the partygoers started to head to a set of double doors that Jaune had thought to be an emergency exit. Making a split-second decision, he decided to join the group that was leaving. He wasn't seeing anything wrong in the club, and he was kind of curious about what _else _seemed to be drawing such a crowd to a place he thought was already kind of cool. Heading through the doors, he declined the betting offers (which were surprisingly good on someone called "The Killer") and made his way into… a boxing arena.

Ah, unsanctioned street fighting. _That's_ why this was so out of the way.

Settling himself into a hard plastic chair, he began to look around the room at the different posters scattered on the walls. Each poster had signatures scrawled underneath the visage of the fighters depicted, each fighter squaring off against their opponent. Below each poster, a small plaque held the name of the victor from each championship. Billy the Kid, Rocky Balboa, Tow-Mater. That last was the reigning champ for several years until the most recent victor.

The Red Dragon.

"And I thought it would be _hard _to find you, Yang." Jaune chucked. As he shook his head incredulously at his luck, he saw the first challenger arriving. The fighter looked to be nearly seven and a half feet tall; his legs were the size of tree trunks and his biceps the size of watermelons.

Jaune leaned back as the title defender arrived, her golden hair pinned back in a tight bun that he was fairly sure defied the laws of physics considering how much hair the girl had. The Huntsman groaned as the announcer began to introduce the combatants.

"She's gonna kill him."

* * *

Jaune admitted that he could have thought this through better.

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that the security wouldn't let him, a guy, into a _women's_ changing room. He really should have planned it better, all things considered. Claiming he was an old friend was such a tired cliche that he actually winced when he'd said it, an action that had probably undermined his argument. He had been politely, but forcefully, told to depart before they had someone come do it for him.

Hence why he was currently waiting-

"Get. Away. From. My. Bike."

Maybe this wasn't the best place either.

"Hey Yang."

The yellow-haired girl pointed to her bike, then at him. "Move it, Jaune." As Jaune stepped away from the cycle, Yang walked up to him. "So what are you doing here? Come to question my life choices?" She crossed her arms.

"Well, I-"

"Perhaps, like my father, you think I need to talk. Well, I don't. I'm fine, really."

"I mea-"

"Or maybe…" Yang took a deep shuddering breath, "Did _she_ send you?"

Jaune didn't know who _she _was (though he had a couple guesses), but the way Yang avoided saying the name suggested that he _really_ didn't want her to think that he had been sent by this 'she.' He crossed his arms and waited to see if Yang was going to say anything else. When she held his gaze for a moment without saying anything, he finally spoke.

"No."

"What?" Yang blinked, caught off guard.

Jaune sighed. "No, I'm not here to disparage you or force you to talk, and I wasn't 'sent' by anyone. Honestly, I always thought you'd end up in the professional rings. I'm more surprised by the fact you're underground."

Yang snorted. "It pays the bills, and it's not mainstream, but that doesn't mean that it isn't sanctioned."

He raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "The guy at the front raked me for 40 Lien! " Yang laughed a bit at that. "And if this is sanctioned, then why is it in the middle of a destroyed building?"

The boxer shrugged as she began to pack her stuff onto her bike. "Aesthetic? All I know is that my agent isn't likely to set me up with an illegal fight; I'm 'worth too much' even though I'm not mainstream."

The huntsman leaned on her bike for a moment, but a glare from the long haired blonde had him moving away again quite quickly. "Yeah, you mentioned that earlier. Why aren't you more mainstream? What you did to that guy tonight was brutal, but it remained within the rules, as best I could tell."

Yang sighed, "The fight with Mercury back in Beacon several years ago still taints my reputation, I guess. I've been in the circuit for a while now, and I've been getting better fights, but it'll be some time before I can go mainstream without people threatening me outside the ring or refusing to fight because they think I'll hit them when they're down." She paused for a moment, clearly reminded of a better time, before continuing to pack. "You got a place to stay yet?"

"Um…" Truth be told, Jaune hadn't thought that far ahead. Yes, he knew he was going to come see her, but shelter hadn't been a consideration yet. "I guess I'll swing by and see if Glynda has a place I can crash at Beacon Academy." He shrugged, "Otherwise, I can find a place to sleep. I think that Velvet and Coco still live around here; they'd probably put me up for a couple of days."

Yang jammed her helmet on her head. "Tell you what, Casanova, if you don't want to stay with old lady Glynda or sell your soul for a bed, look me up. You changed your scroll contact recently?" Jaune shook his head. "Good, I'll send you my address. If you want to crash on my couch, show up sometime before I get in my bath. Otherwise you'll be waiting until the ice melts."

Jaune shook his head. "Ice?"

Backing her bike out of its parking spot, the blonde girl gave him a look through her visor. "In this job you learn to do something to soothe the bruises." With that, she shifted gears and began to leave.

As she drove away, Jaune realized she could give him a ride, but before he could even call out, she was gone.

* * *

_Ozpin Tower, Apt. 7929, top floor Ruby Rd__. _

Jaune looked at the large building he was standing in front of. Shiny and new, Ozpin Tower looked almost like a giant nine tiered wedding cake; the single penthouse at the very top of the tower was barely visible. Since it was located toward the center of town, the Ozpin Tower itself was hard to miss. Land in the center of town was at a premium, so the skyscraper offered a mix of office space and apartments. Standing outside, he scanned the directory. Okay...80 floors, and only one name at the top. Three initials, Y. X. L.

"Either you're messing with me, Yang, or your job does a lot more than just 'pay the bills,'" Jaune muttered as he buzzed the top floor.

"Yeah?" A distinctly female voice crackled over the intercom.

"Um, it's Jaune. This is Yang, right?"

"Yes. I'll let you in. Code to the top floor is 1031. See you in a bit." The door buzzed, and Jaune pulled it open. Crossing the lobby, he tried not to stare at the decor. It was clear that whatever 'bills' Yang was suffering, they were easily met. The sheer opulence of the building was staggering. If it wasn't gold, then it was platinum, or silver, or _gemstone_. Jaune felt very out of place in his hunter attire.

Pressing the elevator button, the blond was actually glad he wasn't here during the daytime. He felt like he stuck out enough. When the elevator finally dinged, he immediately entered, ignoring the opulence now reflected in triplicate in the mirrors on the walls of the elevator car.

As he typed the code to get into Yang's apartment, something began to wiggle at the back of his mind, but he couldn't narrow down what it was. A minute or so later the elevator dinged again and he found himself looking into a massive penthouse living room.

"Um, Yang?"

"Yeah?" A voice called from another room.

Slightly reassured, Jaune entered the living room as the elevator dinged closed behind him. "You know, I didn't know that being a minor circuit fighter paid good enough to get this kind of place." He started looking around. Unlike the lobby which had felt cold and showy, this place had the feeling of a home; he supposed that made sense, since that's what it was.

"It doesn't." Yang entered wearing cargo pants and an orange tank top, sans her prosthetic arm. "You save the world, it comes with some perks. All I do is share with three-" she suddenly looked away as she cut herself off. "Two," she amended quietly, "I share it with _two_ other girls." Yang shook her head, looking around the penthouse. "They aren't ever here though, so I pretty much have the run of the place." Jaune nodded, not sure what to say as Yang gave him a tour. "So this is the living room, the balcony is there, but I don't have the keys to it any more." Jaune looked at her sharply, but Yang ignored it. "Kitchen is that way, there's an entertainment room over here, bedrooms are upstairs… There's four of those. Technically Blake owns one, as does Weiss, so… unless you want to call them… I guess you can have the o-"

"I'll take the couch." Jaune interrupted, sensing that Yang really didn't want to give up the fourth room. The long-haired blonde shot him a grateful look. "I kind of dropped this on you last minute; the least I can do is make it easy on you."

Yang looked away, obviously trying to clear her thoughts. "Yeah… thanks." Giving herself a bit of a shake, she continued the tour. "... And the bathroom is down the hall."

Jaune gaped. "That's a bathroom?"

She laughed, "Yeah, that was my response too."

"Anything this big should have its own zip code," Jaune said as he looked around the room.

Smiling at the joke, Yang agreed. "Yeah, it's mostly for the bathtub."

"That's not a bathtub, it's more like a pool!"

Yang nodded still grinning. "No kidding, but it does bubble bath pretty well, and it fits three young women pretty easily." Her smile dimmed a bit but she pushed on. "Anyway, I have a bath to use in my bedroom where I ice after fights, so put a tie on the door or something if you're in here and I'll shower in my bathroom."

As the tour came to an end, Yang had a question for him. "Not to put you out, but how long are you staying?"

"Not sure." Jaune perched on the couch, "I'd like to say not long at all, but it really depends."

"On what?" Yang flopped down onto an armchair.

"A few things." Jaune said vaguely. The huntress waited for him to elaborate, and when it became clear he wasn't going to, she sighed.

"Look, Jaune, I know talking to your crush's friend's sister is awkward-"

"_Not as awkward as that relationship connection." _Jaune thought. "Yang, you're a good friend," Jaune interrupted, but RWBY relationships aren't the issue here."

"Then why are you in town?" Yang countered.

Jaune sighed. "If I say I'm here to check on you, will you throw me out of the window?"

"Probably," Yang responded, her tone joking but her body language one hundred percent serious. "I'm not some damsel in distress that needs someone to' rescue' her." Her tone was one that suggested that this was a well-worn argument.

"I know that." Jaune pointed out calmly, "Nor did I say you were. You are, however, human and you just lost your best friend and sister recently. I stopped by because I felt like you could use a friend."

Yang stood up."I don't want to talk about it."

"I got that quite clearly." Jaune sighed. "If you do, howev-"

"I'm going to bed." Yang announced over him. "You're welcome to stay as long as you like, but if 'fixing' me is your only reason for being in Beacon, I might recommend you just leave tomorrow." With that, she walked up the stairs and Jaune heard her door close.

* * *

The next week was a bit strained. Contrary to what he said the first night, Jaune actually _did _have another reason to be in town. Namely, attempting to help rebuild Beacon Academy. The current academy was a bunch of buildings scattered around the city, but there was another under construction. Jaune had nothing to do all day but had no interest in following Yang to her training sessions like a lost puppy. Instead, he often found himself running errands for Glynda and Oscar, the latter of whom had finally merged personalities with Ozpin. Jaune didn't really understand that, but he figured that in the grand scheme of things this was something _no one _understood except maybe Ozpin, and now Oscar. Not to mention, while he was far from stupid, he knew he could fill a library with all the things Jaune Arc didn't understand.

So he felt far from upset about his ignorance.

Between helping Oz and Glynda rebuild, he had been spending the evenings with a hotheaded blonde who had become as cold as ice in his presence.

"I mean, really!" Jaune found himself venting to a bemused Nora one afternoon, "She's acting like… I don't know!"

"Like you seduced her, had an amazing one night stand, and both want to have another because the sex was great, but you both feel like it was a mistake that never should have happened, and now there's an unbearable sense of suppressed sexual tension between you just waiting to burst forth?" Nora took another sip from her milkshake. (Jaune still wasn't sure how the girl had ordered a _milkshake _of all things at a bar. Actually, scratch that. She hadn't ordered it; it had been _brought out to her_ without question or delay as soon as they'd sat down.) As he gaped at her, she shifted slightly. "Or it could also be that after Ruby's… death… she is refusing to fall back into depression like she did when she lost her arm." The redhead motioned for a refill (which was brought out immediately, as if it had already been prepared) before she winked at Jaune. "I like my first thought though, much more fun."

"_Maybe Nora wasn't the best person to talk to about this.. ." _Jaune thought as the petite redhead wiped her lips clean of leftover milkshake. Then it hit him.

"Nora, you're a genius!"

"I doubt that. Geniuses have to think; I prefer to hit things." Nora hopped down from the barstool, tossing the barman some Lien as she did so. "Come on, let's go find Ren while you explain why you think I'm a genius."

"It's like you said. I was invited into her home and I made things awkward because I pushed too hard. To make matters worse, there's everything about where she lives."

"Mmmmhmmm," Nora agreed, "Ozpin Tower was built as the culmination of a massive commemorative project on _Ruby_ Road."

As the two arrived at the office, Nora stopped outside. "Jaune, I know you haven't asked for my advice, but I'm giving it to you anyway. Go find Blake. She's the only one who can get through to Yang now that Ruby is… gone. If nothing else, wait until Yang is ready to talk to you. Let her call you."

Jaune nodded, "Hey Nora?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"I'm a genius right? Gotta work hard to keep that title."

Jaune returned that night to an empty penthouse, but as he packed, there was a sudden clap of thunder which triggered the heavens to begin emptying themselves of their aqueous contents. As the rain began falling in sheets, Jaune decided to put off his departure at least until the end of the storm.

As the squall began to get worse, Jaune began to get worried. He grabbed his scroll.

"_Hey Yang, you alright?" _

"_I'm fine," _the message came back almost immediately. "_The weather caught me flat footed so it took me a bit to get back. I'm on my way up."_

True to the message, Yang arrived a moment later, still wearing her helmet.

"I'm going to change," she said shortly, "I'll be back in a bit."

Jaune heard her footsteps slowly climb the stairs, and a few moments later there was silence except for the rain.

KA-BOOM!

Oh, and the thunder, couldn't forget that. As he turned to go find something to eat, there was a flash of lightning that lit up the entire room, bright enough to knock out the lights on the street, followed by an eardrum shattering BOOM! A moment later the power went down too.

Hearing a muffled "Really!?" from upstairs, Jaune grinned until he hit his toe on the foot of the couch.

"Dust!" cursed Jaune, maneuvering by scroll light. While the Grimm rarely presented a threat after Salem's defeat, it was quite possible that stragglers were still out. Finding Crocea Mors, he used it as a cane to help feel for any more toe attacking objects as he made his way to the window to watch for any invading Grimm.

Eventually he made it back across the room to the window, which was now streaked with rain. He saw that the door was code locked and alarmed; the alarm itself was an old style physical locking mechanism.

"Weird," he muttered, looking closely at the alarm, "It's connected… to… to the glass?"

"Examining my prison bars?"

Jaune jumped. "I didn't hear you come downstairs."

Yang shrugged, joining him at the window. "Yeah well, I can't see as well upstairs, and being alone in the dark is even more depressing than being just stuck in the dark. So I figured I'd keep you company. Why aren't you using your scroll to see?"

"Wanted to keep my night vision in case something showed up." Yang acknowledged his statement with a nod. "Honestly," Jaune stared out over the skyline, looking for any sign of inhuman movement, "I'm surprised the power went down. With the way everything looks downstairs I figured there would be a dozen different backup generators for the building."

Looking out as well, Yang raised a shoulder in a half shrug. "There are. They can support everything except a direct strike on the tower. Which is the tallest non-airborne building in the city at the moment. 'Soon,'" she made finger quotes as she said the word, "we can expect an upgrade. Honestly, management is just putting it off until Beacon Academy is back in the sky attracting the vast majority of the static electricity; apparently that was part of how they powered the school."

A particularly bright flash of lightning illuminated the room, and Jaune started in shock at his companion's previously hidden complexion. "Dust, Yang! What happened?" Her face was splotchy with bruises, blood was still leaking from multiple cuts, and some was even mottled in her hair.

"I'm fine, Jaune." Yang said dismissively, brushing off his concern, "I've had much worse. It heals."

"But Yang-"

Yang looked at him, her eyes glinting red as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. "Leave it."

Jaune nodded, not sure what else to say. The only person who could talk to Yang when she was like this wasn't here, and he'd seen her break down walls with others who tried. Literally. Qrow's aura had nearly shattered, and his favorite flask had been badly dented. Looking back at the alarm system, something clicked.

"Your prison…"

"Yep." Yang popped the p in the word.

"When will it be enough?"

"I don't know."

Jaune turned to the long haired blonde. "Yang, you didn't kill her-"

"She took the hit!" Yang yelled, angry tears beginning to leak from her eyes. "I was- it was _supposed to be me. _She just jumped and- and-" Tears began to drip down her face. Not sure what to say, Jaune just waited.

"I watched my baby sister eviscerated before my eyes as she took the shot _for me_. I fought _covered in her blood_. Do you know why they didn't find Salem's body?" She leaned in. "The bitch couldn't die, not the normal way, so I tore her apart. Piece. By. Piece." Her red eyes reflected the lightning with a maniacal glint as the thunder rolled. "But even as I destroyed her, she regenerated. So I prayed to the gods, demanded vengeance for my sister, a life for a life. I reached in, grabbed her heart… and she melted like a fucking Grimm." Jaune took a step back, grip tightening on his blade. "But the gods left Ruby dead." Yang breathed deeply for a moment before looking out the window, two crimson dots reflected on it. "They said that there was too much of Salem in me. I didn't know then how right they were."

She took a last, deep shuddering breath before placing her hands behind her back. "When I returned, I realized they were right though. I _was _dangerous, I _was _unstable, I was… like _her_. So I cut the world off, and I pay my dues every weekend. I use whatever I can to… soothe the bruises."

Jaune stared at her for a moment, "So all the reminders? The apartment number being telephone letters for RWBY, the code being Ruby's birthday, the name of the street you live on?"

"All things to remind me of who I _won't _become."

"You've imprisoned yourself in your own torture chamber."

"Yes." Yang hissed as she cocked her head. "Like Salem, I am hidden from the world, trapped in my own body." She nodded to the alarms on the windows, and pointed to what he had thought were just frosted artistic renditions in the glass panes. He leaned in and studied them closely.

"They're… cables?" Jaune looked confusedly at Yang who nodded sadly.

"The same type that killed Penny the first time, actually. Another reminder. If I break through the glass they pull taut and electrical current runs through at a high enough voltage to knock even me out. The battery life is ten years, and I make sure they are replaced weekly. Standard Atlas prison tech, I'm told. I take _no_ chances."

Jaune stayed quiet, not sure what to say as he watched the rain run down the windows. He didn't expect it when Yang spoke again.

"I hate her some days, you know? Ruby was all sorts of amazing, but she could be so impulsive. I don't think I'd be able to jump in front of a blast like that for anyone except maybe her, and Blake I suppose, but she would have done it if it had been Cinder about to be struck down for no good reason. I _hate _her for dying and leaving me behind to clean up the mess, but I hate myself more for being so weak that she had to die for me."

"I see," Jaune finally spoke, "So you've cut yourself off, left the woman who followed you to the depths of hell itself, and take corporal punishment every week and mental torture daily, as penitence for what, losing your temper?"

"Not really." Yang traced a water droplet with her finger on the glass as it flowed down the window, her voice seemed almost whimsical. "I met Raven and accused her of being a monster and a coward. She seemed to be more upset that I saw her as a coward and ignored the claim of being a monster. After all that I've done, it has become obvious that I truly am my mother's daughter."

"You're not a monster, Yang."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "The same blood flows through my veins. If I look at myself, and I see my mother, then how can I be anything else?" As he tried to explain, she held up her hand. "I had my chance to prove that I was different; to prove that I was _better_. But when it came down to it? I was just as ruthless, as _monstrous _as she is. A beast like myself should be caged, and what a glorious cage to be caught in, wouldn't you say, Jaune? Food, water, shelter, and even the occasional walk around town or 'outing' somewhere fun. I keep myself here because it's safer for everyone if I just stay locked away."

"Yang, that's not-"

"Save it," the brawler snapped. "I _know_ it's true because I know myself, and if you were going to be dumb enough to say it's not what Ruby wanted, then you are a bigger fool than I took you for, Jaune."

"Is it what she would have wanted though?"

The red eyes that caught his own promised death and pain, and Jaune wondered if he had finally pushed too far, but then she responded in a low voice. "Thanks to my weakness we'll never know. I'm done with this conversation now. I'll see you tomorrow. Seeing as it's too damn dark to do anything, and you have put me off talking, I'm going to bed. Good night."

* * *

_Taiyang, _

_I'm sure by now you've heard about Yang and all that happened between us. I've decided that there isn't much more I can do for her right now, but I'm going to finish what I've started when I feel she's ready to listen. I'm worried about her, though, and suggest that you spend some time with her. I wouldn't recommend staying with her; she still wants (and needs) her space, but she could still use someone nearby in case she finally decides to come out of her shell._

_Rumor has it that the Grimm attacks have stopped in the west, though no one seems to know why. Rumors abound of a huntress destroying the creatures as they spawn, and while I'm skeptical as to the accuracy of the stories, I do not doubt that Weiss could very well be the cause of this sudden population decline. Her family is worried about her, as she has not yet returned home. I believe that I will join her and try to help her too. If Yang comes looking for me, point her in that direction. _

_I am genuinely concerned about Yang. She has taken Ruby's death as a personal failure. While I understand her feelings, I have no doubt that had it been __**me**_ _covered in __**Yang's**_ _blood, I would… act out as well. Despite me telling her this, Yang seems to __**want**_ _to put all of the blame on herself. I am aware that Yang has kept you in the dark regarding how close we came to losing her, but you must know: Ruby chose which of your daughters died that night. I should have known Ruby would do that too, and that is why I take no solace in telling you that __**I**_ _am the reason Ruby died. I should have known she would try to take the hit, it was exactly the kind of person she was, and I should have intercepted her. Instead, as I stood in shock waiting for Yang to die, Ruby stepped in front. _

_I'm sorry I failed, Tai. Rather than protect your daughters, my presence did nothing, and my inaction only caused them harm. I'm so, so sorry, and I know my words are cold comfort to a father's aching heart. Please understand I will do everything I can to atone for this failure. _

_I trained for years to be a huntress. It's time I started doing my job. _

_Blake_

* * *

**Title Credit: The Muse gets this one, though if she doesn't get her rear in gear with some of my other WIP's, or the successor to this piece, that might be all she's getting.**  
**Chapter Title Credit: Aer. Special thanks to my beta for coming through last minute.**  
**Hope you enjoyed.**  
**Next chapter to be posted on or before March 1st.**  
**R&R**


	2. Interlude: A Father's Worry

**Alright, another chapter.**

**The muse left in the middle of negotiations, and now is back on the run. She gave me a parting gift though, so for anyone who follows my profile, you can expect an update to the WIP's there sometime soon.**

**I'm winding my way through the Amazon this week, and I'm pretty sure she went north... and I _think_ that way is north.**

**Probably.**

**Disclaimer: Ah the joys of being a mediocre writer hack with little talent. You think I own RWBY, prepare for disappointment.**

* * *

"_How is it possible that our parents lied to us?"_

_"Let's see... You're the prettiest kid in school. This won't hurt a bit. Your face will freeze like that…_

_._

_._

_._

_Everything's going to be alright."_

_-__Brian K. Vaughan_

* * *

Taiyang threw his scroll down on the bed in anger.

He knew it was childish, but at this point he didn't care. How dare that girl do this to his daughter? Yang may not _want_ her partner around, but that didn't mean that she didn't _need her. _

Taking a deep breath, the golden-haired man reached for his scroll and again chose the cat faunus from his contacts.

"_Attempting to connect. Please wait." _His scroll chimed at him. "_Please wait." _

He understood why Blake had sent him a letter, of course. Her guilt wouldn't let her leave without taking the blame and telling him, but her fear wouldn't let her explain it to him in person. She had taken a calculated risk that he wouldn't receive her letter at all, or would receive it too late for him to contact her while she ran to the western regions.

"_Please wait."_

Her letter was hardly inspiring reading to an already concerned father, though. Explaining her reasoning for her departure could be forgiven if she hadn't arranged to be out of scroll range when her letter finally arrived at his house.

"_Please wai-"_

Tai slammed his thumb on the red "end" button. It hadn't connected, just like the last six times. He made his way down to the kitchen where he'd left the letter. A moment later his scroll buzzed. He raced to see who it was, and was surprised to see a message from Yang.

"_Did you send Jaune to spy on me?" _

"_No," _he replied quickly. "_Why did you think that?" _

"_He said something to me that sounded like something you would say. I was wondering about it, so I asked." _

"_What did he say?" _

"_That's not important. What is important is that I'm going to bed now. Night dad."_

"_Good night, my sunny little dragon."_

Tai sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter, placing his face in his hands. When had his little girl, the same one with two missing teeth and a bright cheery smile who would tell him all about her amazing adventures outside in the garden, become a young woman who locked herself away from everyone? Who was so paranoid that she believed her own father would send a friend to _spy_ on her. He sighed into his hands. He wasn't cut out for this lonely lifestyle.

When Raven had left, at least he'd had Yang, who he'd poured his soul into. Summer had helped, and slowly he had come to feel as though he could have a complete and happy family. When Ruby was born he thought that the dream had become a reality. When Summer died Tai had devoted himself to his daughters. Qrow, bless his soul, had never questioned Tai about his love life, despite Ruby having been born barely a year after Yang. Instead, the other man had trained and taught the children as though they were his own while Ozpin and others helped Tai through the depression he was struggling with.

A depression that had returned full force when he'd had to bury his youngest daughter, just like her mother before her.

Pulling himself out of his memories, Tai began to make dinner. He was halfway done when he remembered who else could tell him what had been said to Yang.

Grabbing his scroll, he chose the contact and waited for it to connect. A moment or two went by, before a voice mired with static came through.

"_Taiyang_?"

"Jaune."

"_Um, how are you doing_?"

"Terrible. My daughter isn't speaking to me, but she's clearly upset. She also thinks I sent you to spy on her. Can you explain?" For a moment there was only static on the line, then a loud crackle as Jaune exhaled loudly into the scroll.

"_Yeah, so it all started on a boat…_"

* * *

_Yang, _

_Your dad contacted me last night after you went to bed. Apparently someone sent him a letter that he only recently read; no, it wasn't me. _

_I'm leaving as soon as the rain lightens up, and I may be out of scroll range for a bit, but I want you to know that I understand what you're going through. Remember Pyrrha? I know it's not exactly the same, but I want you to know that I understand, and that when you're ready to talk, __I will be there._

_I'll see you again soon. _

_Jaune_

* * *

**Chapter Title Credit: An old friend of mine, she used to be the 'A' in MAJCK but she moved away.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Next chapter is still (tentatively) scheduled for Sunday, but I can't guarantee anything.**

**R&R**


	3. Because I Can't Help-Even When I Try

**So, yes it's early. I have to do some homework tomorrow, and I don't need to be up late. Sorry.**

**I found a temple, I'm still wandering through it right now. Cell reception's been spotty though so if I lose you...**  
**Damn Muse... Pit Trap... ROLLING BOULDER!**  
**Disclaimer:.. I...don't...RWBY.**

* * *

_When you're out, loneliness, it crawls up in the ground_

_It's what you feel, but can't articulate out loud._

_Oh you go to sleep on your own and you wake each day with your thoughts_

_And it scares you being alone_

_It's a last resort_

_Sleepsong-Bastille_

* * *

"_What is a huntsman, or a huntress? What do they-we do?" Professor Port leaned over his desk. _

"_They kill Grimm!" Nora shouted from the second row. Professor Port's mustache twitched into a grin. _

"_Well, yes. That does seem to be our primary purpose, does it not? After all, you are here, and we release you on a regular basis to hunt them, so it does make a certain sense that that's all that a hunter may do. But there's more. Anyone have anything to add to Miss Valkyrie's definition?"_

_The class took turns adding things that defined a hunter. Pyrrha suggested defending others, and Ruby suggested helping others. This led to a bit of an argument as to what the differences were. Then it came to Ren. _

"_Huntsman and Huntresses hunt." Despite its low volume, Ren's quiet voice carried quite well in the classroom. _

"_Precisely!" Professor Port shouted gleefully, the now filled chalkboard behind him seemingly forgotten. "It's in the name! Why, I remember…" As he launched one of his 'famous' stories, the class began to surreptitiously prepare for a nap, but everyone's attention suddenly snapped back to him. _

"_Indeed, the same way that you track Grimm, so too you can track a human." _

_Weiss raised her hand a bit shakily, "How- no, why would you need to __**hunt**_ _a person?"_

_Professor Port took in his audience, students shaken from what they had expected to be a quiet afternoon. Several looked nervous, or pale. A few had looks of intrigue on their face, but most seemed confused or upset. The Professor sat on the edge of his desk. _

"_Who might need to be found for some reason?" _

_Blake raised her hand, resting her elbow on the desk. "Lost hikers?" _

_Ruby caught her meaning. "Yeah, missing people. Like kids who wander off-" _

"_Or are kidnapped, people who go missing." Pyrrha interjected. Professor Port raised an eyebrow. _

"_Anyone else?" _

_Jaune raised his hand, "The kidnappers." _

_Yang grinned. "Yeah! Chasing criminals, jumping around the area, fighting bad guys-" _

"_Yes, yes it's all terribly exciting, Yang, but is that our job?" Weiss asked, "After all, we have police, laws against vigilantes-"_

"_None of the laws apply to Hunters," Blake pointed out, receiving an eye roll from the white haired girl. "In fact, local constabularies are often encouraged to aid hunters, no matter the case." _

_Jaune spoke up. "Yeah, but that's meant to be for Grimm attacks and helping interact with the populace, not policing them."_

_Pyrrha placed a hand on his arm. "But it doesn't have to be only about fighting. If you could help find a child or a brother or sister, whether lost or kidnapped, wouldn't you?"_

"_I would try, but it's not-" _

"_Technically, it's not," Professor Port stepped in, "and I love listening to a good discussion between my students, but in the interest of time I'm going to step in and explain why I've brought this topic up." He surveyed the class again, observing the surprised looks, they had expected him to go back to his story. "The __**reputation**_ _of the Huntsmen and Huntresses has grown to be legendary in places. This is a reputation that we are grooming you to accept. This means that we teach many different things, including hunting humans in both their natural habitat, and in nature itself." He stood up and began to lecture._

"_Over the next few weeks, you will be taught how to hunt and be hunted. This is a bit different than just Tracking and Stealth, and Professor Greene will be covering the differences in her class a bit later. Stealth tactics that you use against the Grimm won't work; remember, your tracker knows many of the same tricks you do. Techniques that would hide you from Grimm just broadcast your location to your tracker. Since you will all be receiving the same instruction, I recommend hitting the library to find ideas you can use that your friends may not know." As the bell rang he looked at the class directly, "Take this from a senior huntsman: as huntsmen and huntressesses it is a question of __**when**__, not __**if**__, you will be called to help in a manhunt."_

* * *

Jaune rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Memory-dreams, Ren called them. All Hunters suffered from them, and they were normally much more violent. Usually you relived watching friends die or a moment when you thought _you _were about to die. Rarely were they something as sublime as just a classroom setting. Of course, the subject matter probably had something to do with what he'd been doing for the past week. Crawling out of the makeshift shelter he'd created using a couple branches and a pile of leaves, he reviewed the carnage surrounding him.

The remnants of a massive battle were scattered around him. Trees lay broken or uprooted, their branches spread across the newly created clearing. Claw marks dug deep within the earth were the only remnants of the monster that had fought for its life here. Pulling his gear on, Jaune began searching for the one thing he was lacking: footprints. Grimm, as a rule, didn't attack other Grimm. While he was sure there were exceptions, he had yet to encounter them, and the tracks were suggestive of only a single monster.

A half hour later he was cursing his luck as he tried _again _in vain to pick up a trail for whoever, or whatever, had been fighting the Grimm. He hung his head; he'd never been the tracker of his group. That honor had been reserved for Ren and Pyrrha, as the two of them had a crazy ability to pick up on _any _trail. Sighing, he pushed off from the ground and rolled his shoulders, hearing (and feeling) some very satisfying pops from his back. As he stretched back his eye caught on a marking in the branches of a tree that had been uprooted. Moving closer he ran his hand over the cut in the branches. Looking over many of the uprooted trees he found similar marks, and in one patch of dirt he finally found what he was searching for: a single boot mark.

Bingo.

His feeling of elation lasted for all of a moment before he realized, it was _only one mark. _Sure, now he knew what to look for, but whomever had fought this thing had maneuvered primarily through the trees like some crazed squirrel. The markings… He moved to study them again. They did look familiar, probably somewhat like…"

"A chain scythe,"Jaune breathed. He hadn't expected it to be this easy, and he was aware that there was no small amount of luck in finding this. He immediately began to move from tree to tree, trying to see into their branches, looking for more chain marks.

"You… aren't Tai," the tree several feet away noted.

"What?" Jaune looked at the tree. "Who said that?"

"Me." Blake dropped from the tree branches. "I got here about ten minutes ago. I was trying to figure out what you were doing here."

Jaune sighed tiredly. "Not that I'm complaining, but how did you know I was here?"

Blake shrugged. "I didn't. I was heading back to resupply at a small village a few miles from here, I saw someone wandering around and decided to try to help if I could."

Jaune nodded, trying to think of something to say, when Blake spoke up.

"Why _are _you here, Jaune?" Her ears twitched a bit. "This is a ways off the beaten path for you. Last I heard, you were in Argus with your family."

The blond took a deep breath. "I spoke with Yang a week ago-" Blake's face grew hard.

"She sent you? She wouldn't even come herself?" A mix of hurt and anger flashed across the faunus's face, and Jaune hastened to explain.

"No, not really. I mean she mentioned that you were gone, and then I called Taiyang, and he read me the letter you sent him. After hearing about that, I had to come see you."

At the mention of Tai's name Blake's ears flattened and she took a step back, fear evident on her face. "Tai sent you?"

"Not really," Jaune said nervously, even as Blake relaxed at his reassurance. "It was more of... he gave me a place to start my search." The blond paused for a moment, then looked around. "Um, not to get off topic, but is there a place we can go that isn't so..?" He motioned to the clearing around them. "I'm feeling a bit exposed out in the open like this."

Blake nodded and motioned for him to follow her. "I take it Tai is furious?"

Jaune scratched his head nervously. "Yeah, you could say that. His concern for Yang outweighs his anger at you, though."

The dark-haired faunus gave him a sharp look. "What happened to Yang?"

"I don't know," Jaune admitted to her reluctantly. "How long ago did you leave?"

"A few months ago," Blake evaded. "Why did you come find me?"

"For the same reason I went to meet with Yang. I owed it to my friends to check on them." Jaune noticed a cabin coming into view through the trees.

Blake wasn't impressed. "That's it?"

"There were other reasons, of course, but that was a major one."

Blake paused to open the door before continuing the conversation. "When I left, Yang was… unhappy. I tried to get her to do things, but she just acted like she was betraying Ruby's memory by actually having fun without her. As the months went by, she got worse and worse. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I wrote Tai a letter and left the same night. I had to. Yang… wasn't listening. She would go on about how Ruby's death was her fault, and no matter how I tried to explain it wasn't she just didn't want to listen." Crossing to the pantry, which Jaune noticed was very bare, she grabbed a box of tea and began to prepare it.

"Um, whose house is this?" Jaune looked around the spartan cabin.

"It's here for the huntsmen and huntresses. We're expected to keep it stocked, but the locals tend to do upkeep as they can." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this; he'd never heard of anything like that before. Deciding to muse on it later, he got back to his reason for visiting. "So was she fighting when you were still there?" The clattering of the tin cup that had been holding cold tea answered his question.

"She's what?" Blake's hands were shaking.

Jaune sighed as he sat at the table. "She's been fighting semi-professionally, and going by the number of fans she attracts, I'm guessing she's been doing it for a while."

"Dust." Blake slowly began to clean up the spilled tea. "I knew she was in a bad place, but I didn't think it was _that _bad."

Jaune moved to help her clean up, but was waved back. "I take it that you weren't aware of the balcony being closed either?" When Blake looked at him in confusion he sighed. "Blake, I don't know where to begin at all. She's pulled away from everyone. She thinks that she's dangerous because of the way that she handled the Salem situation, and she's locked herself away." The cat faunus gave up cleaning the spill and sat down across from Jaune, deliberately setting her still shaking hands on the table.

"How bad is it?"

Jaune winced. "Bad. She's had cables installed in the windows to prevent her from breaking through and jumping off the-"

"I get it," Blake cut him off.

"The door is also locked and alarmed, you know, in case."

"I figured as much!" the huntress snapped back, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm sorry. It's just hard to hear that your best friend is...taking extreme steps to prevent their own suicide."

"Blake, part of that is because _her_ best friend left." Jaune leaned across the table, holding the cat faunus's hands still. "She needs support, and for that, she needs her best friend."

Blake shook her head. "She'll hate me for leaving, and if not for that then-"

"For what happened to Ruby?" Jaune questioned gently. "Blake, you said it in your letter. _Ruby_ chose her death. Not Yang, not Weiss, and _not you_. I was devastated when I heard she died, and I didn't have to experience the moment that it happened." Tears began to run down the cat faunus's face, but she didn't try to pull away. "I get that you don't want Yang to be upset wit-"

"I-i-it was more than that!" The dark haired faunus was failing to hold back tears as she explained. "I've always run away from my problems, and when Yang started to spiral I swore I'd be there for her." Her tears were beginning to drip off her chin and onto the table. "I tried to help, and when that didn't work, I figured that I was right, I only made things worse. So I did the one thing I've always done well: I ran. I ran to find Weiss, who, despite her frigid demeanor, _cares_, and can help us snap out of our problems when they arise."

"Weiss?" Jaune asked in disbelief. The watery glare she gave him would have been intimidating, if he didn't feel like she could use a hug instead.

"_Weiss_," Blake gave a watery growl. "I sent the letter to Tai, hoping that he'd be mad at me for leaving, and that it would help him deal with Yang easier. I-i-ididn'trealize." She forced a deep breath as she started crying harder. "I didn't think about how long it would take, or that it would make all these problems with Yang-''

Jaune was sick of seeing Blake cry. Getting up, he pulled his friend into a hug. He'd never seen her like this. Actually come to think of it, he didn't remember any of team RWBY ever showing emotions like this before. Maybe they had done it in front of each other, but he couldn't remember even _hearing _about a breakdown like the ones he'd seen over the past couple weeks.

"I'm sorry, Blake."

"What for?" The faunus muttered into his shoulder, "I'm the reason for this entire shitshow, what on Remnant do you need to apologize for?"

"I'm sorry for your loss." Those five words seemed to push Blake over the edge, and she dissolved into sobs again. "You've had no time to mourn for yourself. You've gone from helping Yang to searching for Weiss to fighting Grimm. You need to go home."

"To Menagerie?"

"Yes. Go back, recharge, rest, _mourn._"

"But Yang? Tai?"

"Tai and Yang will be alright. Ren and Nora know to be there for them now, and that will help."

"And Weiss?" Blake's crying had begun to slow.

"I heard she went home a while ago. That's part of why I followed you. You're chasing someone who isn't here anymore."

"I see." Blake pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry I lost my composure on you, Jaune, but thank you for putting up with it."

Jaune nodded and sat down again. "Honestly, I didn't expect you to break down. You've always been so headstrong… I couldn't imagine it."

Blake sat down too, putting her head in her hands as she sighed heavily. "That's why I didn't. Everyone needed me to be strong. I had to reform the White Fang, coordinate award ceremonies, take care of Yang and Weiss. After Ruby's… funeral there was still so much to do. Team RWBY had become a figurehead, but then Weiss left for out here and I figured Ilia had the White Fang well in hand, so I tried to devote myself to Yang. When that failed I came out here, but I still ignored my feelings. I was so used to ignoring them; it was easier, you know?"

Jaune _did _know the feeling. He'd felt it ever since Pyrrha had died. It had taken a conversation similar to this one with Ruby, with him breaking down on her, before he could finally face his feelings and sort them out. He cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Do you need help getting back home?"

"I-I don't know." Blake looked up, her eyes red from crying. "Part of me wants to do nothing more than go home and hide, and part of me wants to go find Yang again. If I know her, she's probably letting the tar get beat out of her as some sort of penitence." At Jaune's nod, she rolled her eyes. "Of course," she muttered.

"I can't tell you what to do," Jaune said as he stood up. "Again, my recommendation is for you to go home, rest, recover, and mourn. _Then _sort out whatever issues you have with your old teammates. Until you get your own head sorted out, though, you aren't going to be very much help to anyone, least of all yourself."

Blake gave a pained smile. "Listen to you, all mature. I still remember the scared seventeen-year-old who used to get so defensive when he was called vomit-boy. When did you grow up?"

Jaune returned her smile with one of his own, though he doubted his looked any more genuine. "The same time the cat faunus from across the hall took off her bow for good."

"War grows us up far too quickly."

"It does. Take care, Blake, and stay in scroll contact. No more of this off the grid stuff, okay?"

* * *

_To: Gen. James Ironwood_

_From: Spec. Winter Schnee_

_Subject: Extraction_

_Summary:_

_The extraction of the asset codenamed Blade has occurred without any difficulty. The asset is awaiting debrief in my quarters. _

_I respectfully request to be there for debrief. _

_Specialist Schnee_

* * *

_To: Spec. Winter Schnee_

_From: Gen. James Ironwood_

_Subject: 1700 Debrief_

_Summary:_

_Request granted. _

_General Ironwood_

* * *

**Chapter Title Credit: Stupid Muse... kill...almost died...big bugs! BIG BUGS!**  
**Gonna try for the next one to be up next weekish.**

**Straightup, anyone who's been paying attention probably noticed that the chapters fell from six to five, this (among other reasons) is because chapter (currently five) is really, REALLY, big. Like, it's big, okay? 13+thousand words of big. I like long chapters. It means the author cares, but if you would rather see seven chapters, then let me know before Sunday of**  
**next week, otherwise I'll just assume everyone's good and we'll stick with five.**

**Thanks...Read- SPIDERS SHOULD NOT BE THAT BIG!.**  
**R&R**


	4. Interlude: The Burning Cold

**And now, the beginning of the end...**

**A reminder: I am asking you if you want a 13k(ish) chapter, or two 7k(ish) chapter. Tell me. If you do not, I will go with all who have.**

**The muse is actually at work right now, so I'll keep this brief.**

**Disclaimer: Strap on your seatbelts, it ain't dark yet, but there are stormclouds that RT could never even imagine on the horizon.**

* * *

_It's all over._

_Ruby's funeral was yesterday, and there were so many people who came, even though only a handful actually **knew** her._

_I was one of them._

_I'm supposed to head home now, apparently, but I don't think I will. My father wants another puppet. Apparently Whitley has stopped listening._

_Good for him._

_I'm going back. I'm going hunting. I'm going to annihilate every Grimm on this planet, and then I'm going to kill them as they are born._

_As for father, he needs to be dealt with. Harshly._

_It's funny how losing Ruby has affected me. I should have cried, realized what I lost, completely destroyed Salem…_

_But I didn't._

_I carefully covered Yang's back as she annihilated that monster, as I let her have revenge, and it was when they denied me my right as her… friend that I struck._

_Did you know that gods bleed?_

_-A journal entry found in the west woods_

* * *

Weiss glared at the group of soldiers.

This was not right. As a huntress, she was allowed and encouraged to go hunting Grimm. It was the reason that hunters existed, for crying out loud! Instead, as she tracked an unusually large Ursa she had been overtaken by a pair of nearly silent ships. They had landed and her own sister had explained there were two options: go with them peacefully or see if Winter was still the better fighter.

In Weiss' opinion, her sister was the _dirtier_ fighter, as the bitch had continuously brought up Weiss' many failures, ultimately culminating by asking just how she could have let her best friend die.

Needless to say, Weiss had neither won the duel nor said a word to Winter since.

Now she was sitting on a bed in her sister's barracks room waiting for… probably Ironwood, if she was honest. She knew who her sister worked for... and she was aware Winter wouldn't blink without her superior's blessing.

_'Probably would do __**anything**_ _he asks,' _she thought vindictively. Weiss knew Ironwood well enough to know that he wasn't that kind of man, but that didn't keep her from hating what her sister was becoming: a good little soldier who did everything she was told. _'Almost makes me wonder why she didn't just play our father's game. I guess she just figured Ironwood was more handsome.' _The door in front of her finally opened, and she ignored her sister in favor of the man who walked in behind her. They left the door open, though she could see a group of guards milling about in the hallway. No making a break for it then.

"Huntress Schnee," Ironwood began as he took a seat on a nearby chair, "I owe you an apology for my… unorthodox means of getting you here, but Atlas is facing a crisis that I'm afraid we need your help with."

Weiss sat back with a raised eyebrow and made a 'get on with it' gesture.

"Weiss!" her sister growled. "Be polite."

Weiss gave her sister a cool look before addressing Ironwood. "General, does _she _need to be here?" Winter looked like she'd been slapped.

Ironwood blinked. "No, but I allowed her to be since I thought it might help to have a friendly face to reassure you-" Weiss waved her hand to cut him off.

"General, right now I would trust my brother more than her." Ironwood looked surprised and Weiss sighed. "In case you forgot, you just sent her to kidnap me. If that wasn't bad enough we fought, brutally, and… things were… said."

Winter scoffed. "I thought I taught you better than to take words said when fighting to heart."

The shorter girl stared at her sister blankly for a moment before returning her attention to the man seated before her. "You had a problem, General." There would be time to deal with Winter later.

Ironwood cleared his throat. "Atlas is going through quite a bit of Dust. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, except your brother has pulled from our contracts and is demanding… _you_."

The huntress raised her eyebrows. "Me," she said flatly. She glanced at her sister, who was looking away guiltily. "I see." Turning back to Ironwood, she narrowed her eyes. "Let me be very clear, _General. _I am not a pretty little wallflower to be picked whenever someone chooses. If you try this, I will ensure that I won't survive it, and I will do my _damndest _to make sure that neither of you two do either." She stood up and glared at Winter, who was still refusing to meet her eyes. Something clicked: Winter had _known_ about this.

Weiss started toward her sister. "You absolute BITCH!" She may not have been the best at fighting without a blade, but the older woman's nose still made a satisfying crunch as it connected with her fist. "You would sell me, your own blood, to be our brother's trophy? To be sold as a piece of meat to the highest bidder?" Dragging Winter to the door, she threw her into the hall, where she landed hard and held her nose to try to stem the flow of blood. "Or did you think he'd keep me around?" Weiss shouted, ignoring the guards in the hall going for their weapons. "He always said he would never sell me to someone else. Just what did you think he meant?" She lunged at the prone woman, only to feel a pair of arms grab her from behind. "Let me go, Ironwood! You're bad enough, being willing to sell me into slavery, but she's blood! She never should have agreed, much less personally collected me!" Although Weiss knew that she wasn't going to break Ironwood's hold (the man was cybernetic, after all), she still struggled to get out of his grip.

"Smith, take the Specialist to the medbay. You and Schnee were _training_, understand?" One of the soldiers nodded and helped Winter stand up, the woman clearly in shock, before supporting and leading her away. "Wesson, you're with me." A younger woman nodded and stepped forward, but Weiss wasn't entirely done with Winter.

"A traitor like you has no family!" the huntress screamed after the departing form of her sister. "You and I may share a name, but that's _all we share_!" Weiss caught herself as she realized the two soldiers had stopped and were looking at her. Meeting the eyes of the woman who had always been there for her, had always supported her, who had utterly _betrayed_ her, she bared her teeth. "You are no sister of mine."

She watched with no small sense of satisfaction as Winter sagged into the arms of Smith and was practically carried away, her shoulders shaking, no doubt with tears. Weiss stopped struggling.

"Huntress Schnee, I don't think she knew-"

Weiss allowed herself to be led back inside with Ironwood and Wesson, but she had no interest in letting Ironwood finish. "No, she knew. You could see it in the way she was acting, how she avoided looking at me." The huntress sighed. "General Ironwood, your plans are legendary, but ever since the fall of Beacon you've been holding back. It's actually something Winter and I talked about before I left with… my team." She met his gaze with a hard one of her own. "_And_, we both know how you can act when you're afraid. Unless you told her that you had a plan, I suspect she expected you to hand me over." She turned and sat down on the bed again. Ironwood retook his seat a bit warily.

"Huntress Schnee,allow me to assure you that I am not going to give in to your brother's demands without your consent. You are, however, in a unique position: you are an excellent huntress, a hero many times over across Remnant, and a Schnee. This means that you _could_ try to claim a position here in Atlas on the board of the company…" He began to outline a plan for her to build public support in a way that would force her family to accept her back, something Weiss immediately dismissed. Schnee Dust Company was a monopoly and everyone knew it. Boycotting Dust just wasn't realistic, and her remaining family didn't care about public opinion as long as the Lien kept flowing. _'But there are other ways…' _she thought. _'Darker ways.' _

"General Ironwood," Weiss interrupted, "I'm sure that there is some sort of way to fix this. How long do you have before I need to be 'delivered?'"

Ironwood looked worried. "A month, maybe more if Winter were to join him."

Weiss smiled. "I can figure something out. Tomorrow would be a good time for me to go back to where I was so they don't realize you ever had me. I'll be there in time. Don't worry about that."

Ironwood shook his head. "I'm not just going to let you leave-."

"Then send Wesson with me to make sure I get back." Weiss waved her hand, dismissing his concerns. "Though I assure you, you won't need to." She leaned back as Ironwood nodded, lost in thought. _'It's all going to plan.'_

* * *

_The gods threatened and yelled and said that all mankind must be bad… and then Blake tore them to shreds verbally._

_She blamed them for what they did to Salem, for **what they did** to us, for **what they did to Ruby**…and then we were done._

_The gods denied **us**, we knew they would, **they don't understand** love, but they let us go; and they promised we would see Ruby again._

_I have every intention of showing them **the mistake they made**. Unlike Salem, I don't need an army to create resentment, to foster hate. The gods want to be worshipped, but perhaps it's time for them to be forgotten instead._

_This will take time and resources. I will need to be renamed heiress on my own terms (I'll drop my little brother a letter reminding him of his failures tomorrow. He will start his final act now) and I can't let something simple like a few deaths stop me._

_The gods will regret the day **they took Ruby****.**_

_-A torn page of a journal found in the west woods_

* * *

**Chapter Title Credit: Muse**

** Thanks for reading.**

** R&R**


	5. Because She's Gone- So It Doesn't Matter

**The last chapter!**

**Thanks for everyone who voted (all three of you), I appreciated not having to decide on my own.**

**The muse is right over... and she's gone again, whelp time to start _that_ chase. **

**Disclaimer: While I find my explorers gear feel free to know that I do not own RWBY, though I do have tentative claim to Misthelth.**

* * *

_Dear friend, _

_You are cordially invited to a celebration with the Schnee Dust Company in one week's time. Should you agree to come, simply use the code enclosed with this invitation and any travel costs you may incur, both to and from the celebration, will be covered by the company. _

_We hope to see you there. _

**_Jaune, _**

**_I've heard you've been meeting with what's left of RWBY over the last few weeks, hence why this invitation is being delivered early by courier. No doubt you consider me vain—after all, I __am __assuming you are coming to meet me next—but you are welcome to come early and talk. Should you wish to skip the party I will understand, but it will not be nearly as boring as expected, as I have many of our schoolmates from Beacon on the guest list. _**

**_I hope to see you soon. _**

**_Weiss_**

* * *

The Schnee family mansion was not what he expected.

To be fair, Jaune was not the kind of guy who spent a lot of time exploring mansions, or comparing them for that matter. Nor had he ever planned on doing so. He had shown his invitation to the gate guard, who had waved him down the driveway with a shake of his head. Following the driveway led the young man to where he was currently standing and staring at the massive estate in front of him.

Unlike the towering intimidation of Ozpin Tower, the Schnee family estate spread out like a fort. The outbuildings were easy to spot, and while some of their uses were obvious (he could smell the stables from here), there were others that he could see no use for.

For instance, why was there a full size replica of Beacon Academy over the hill?

Making his way to the front door, he pulled the large knocker at the front, and released it. A moment later an older man appeared, dressed in a vest and blue tie ensemble.

"Sir?"

"Um…" Jaune wasn't sure why he was surprised. Weiss had never made any secret of her family's wealth (though she _had_ neglected their eccentricities) so it really was no surprise that she had a butler. Keeping this in mind, the huntsman realized that he had yet to answer the questioning gaze of the gentleman in front of him. Avoiding speech in case he said something even less useful than 'um', he simply held out his invitation, hoping that he would get another reaction like that of the gate guard and he would be left to find his friend.

The butler took the invitation, glanced at it, then stopped and read both note and invitation more closely before returning them to Jaune. "I see, sir. The party is tonight, so I'm afraid Miss Schnee will not be able to meet with you today. However, I very much doubt she would wish you to be dressed as you currently are, as your outfit is hardly fit for a gala." That said, he opened the door and ushered the younger man in. "She has anticipated the needs of her friends, however, and has several tailors and seamstresses here who will be more than willing to assist you in choosing something to wear."

"I don't-" Jaune began, only to be cut off.

"Mr. Arc, trust me when I say that I have an idea as to why you are here, and…" The butler paused, and Jaune swore there was a tear in his eye that he quickly brushed away. "I hope you can help her. Someone needs to." With that, the older man led the huntsman into the main hall that was sparsely decorated with a few paintings and a couple statues. Jaune quickly noticed that most bright colors were covered with grey or black cloth.

"Why all the coverings?" He asked as they passed a painting draped in a black sheet.

"The house of Schnee is in mourning, sir," the butler explained. "Mister Schnee recently passed, and his son was found to be the killer."

"Oh." Jaune didn't know what to say to that. "When did this happen?"

"A few weeks ago. The tabloids had a field day as journalists are wont to do, especially since her brother had been searching for the younger Miss Schnee for some purpose." The butler stopped in front of a large hall, carefully opening the door. "This ball signifies the end of the mourning period and celebrates Huntress Weiss Schnee taking her place as head of the Schnee Dust Company." There was definitely a certain amount of pride in the older man's voice at that statement. "We are here." He continued forward, gesturing to the group of people tending to dresses and suits. Three spotted Jaune, and he took a half step back, hands out as if to ward off the onslaught he knew was about to come. He knew those looks; his sisters got them right before they turned him into their personal dress-up doll. As the doors closed behind him, trapping him inside, the woman and two men finally arrived in front of him, the looks on their faces making him feel as though he was a piece of meat.

"Jauny boy."

Jaune closed his eyes cursing his luck, before opening them and turning to look at the source: his huntsman school tormenter. Cardin had never been particularly nice to him, especially after the hornet incident, and the idea that the bully was _here _was quickly made this day go from bad to worse.

"Hello, Cardin. I'm surprised to see you here." The three clothesmakers that had made their way to him were now comparing different colors against his skin, arguing over styles and patterns.

Honestly, Jaune was kind of glad they weren't considering his opinion; his knowledge of high-end fashionable clothing was almost less than nothing.

According to his sisters, his knowledge of fashion didn't exist at all.

Cardin shrugged, getting an admonishment from his tailor as he did so. "Schnee invited everyone, apparently. I heard the rest of her team bailed, but most of the rest of Beacon is coming, as is Mistral, Haven, and even some of Vacuo."

"I see." Jaune was ushered onto a footstool where the woman began to take his measurements. Habitually, he followed her instructions.

"Yeah." Cardin apparently hadn't realized Jaune didn't really care about the conversation. "She's going to be throwing a party like this pretty regularly if what Velvet said is true. Apparently she really likes us, since we're going to be invited to all of them." The boy continued to talk about how awesome it was going to be and how it would be fun to see how many rich girls he would land as Jaune's brain fixed on something else.

The hunters were still needed for now, there was no doubt about that. The pools of destruction saw to it that the Grimm would never truly go away. The number of hunters had thinned during the last war, however. While politicians had argued both for and against the continued training of huntresses and huntsmen, Atlas had simply invaded the land of destruction itself and set up a perimeter around it with robotic sentinels destroying the Grimm as soon as they spawned from the pits. While many of the monsters still roamed freely, that number was quickly dwindling as the kingdoms' militaries and freelance hunters eliminated the threat they posed. This left essentially a very large, well trained, and unaligned army out of a job.

While governments fought over who got to capitalize on that, apparently someone else already was.

After all, Weiss was a huntress herself.

* * *

Weiss was not the girl he remembered.

Jaune had been at Ruby's funeral; most of the kingdoms had been, really. The broken, sobbing girl he had seen there bore no resemblance to the white haired goddess that was making her way around the ballroom.

And there was no other way to describe the woman.

A word here, a laugh there. Weiss moved through the room like a queen amongst her subjects, and where she went there was no shortage of empty platitudes and false promises. Politics of every sort were in full swing at this ball. Yet the woman in black (as was expected for a mourning heir or heiress, Jaune had learned) with silver accents adorning her dress was obviously the power in the room.

True to her letter, the Schnee heiress had indeed invited many of her former classmates. What made them stand out was the way they were dressed. Weiss had spared no expense on the other hunters either. Despite the wealth of many of the guests, the huntsmen and huntresses were dressed better than most of the rest of the attendees. While the assorted businessmen and career politicians sucked up to the hostess, feeling her out on different policies, vying for her support, or trying to partner with her (in any sense of the word), it was the hunters and the military that were clearly the hostess' favorites.

After all, look at the money she casually dropped on them.

Jaune was not a politician by any stretch of the imagination, but even he could see that Weiss was making a statement with the way she had contrasted the 'less important' guests against the background of the 'movers and shakers'. Clearly the Schnee family was now holding the huntsmen and huntresses in high esteem.

Jaune himself had to admit that Weiss' tailors had done a fine job on his own outfit. It was fashionable, comfortable, and best of all, functional. He would have no problem wearing this every day to fight Grimm if he had to, and he was pretty sure his schoolmate had ensured that it was designed that way intentionally.

Speaking of schoolmates, Cardin had been correct: there were a lot of them here. Blake and Yang hadn't made it, and that wasn't much of a surprise, but it looked like most of the surviving Hunters had. Team FNKI was here, having apparently gone freelance and becoming one of the most respected mercenary teams on Remnant. Coco and Velvet had also made it, though they looked a little off without the rest of their team there. Fox and Yatusashi had been lost in a Grimm raid shortly after RWBY's final battle with Salem. The girls had immediately retired, though there were rumors that the retirement was either flexible or temporary, as both had been spotted out fighting Grimm in the countryside. SNNN was conspicuous by its absence, but Nora had explained to Weiss, or rather, announced to the entire hall while the hostess looked on with thinly-veiled amusement, that they were on a top-secret mission for the one of the kingdoms (the girl had named all four, and then said it was one of them but she couldn't remember which one) and that they were sorry for missing the festivities.

FNKI looked... kind of jealous about that, honestly.

Ren had, unsurprisingly, accompanied Nora as her date, and several of the teachers from Beacon were among the guests milling around the ballroom. The construction of the new Beacon Academy was nearly done, and many students were looking forward to attending. No one was really sure how long it would be open, but…

Weiss suddenly stepped up to where someone had left a microphone, probably for the inevitable speech.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and honored guests." The talk died down, as everyone began to turn toward the speaker. "I am honored that so many of you have turned out for my father's memorial and my first day as the head of the Schnee Dust Company." Polite applause filtered through the hall, and once it had died down Weiss continued. "Normally this would be the part where I would tell you how amazing I am, but as… as a friend of mine once told me, I do that a little too much anyway." Chuckles could be heard around the room at that, though Jaune noticed Weiss' smile became a bit strained. "For now, I want to announce my first official act as President of the SDC. As many of you here know, five years ago I was present at what has now become known as the 'Battle of Beacon.'" Silence fell in the hall, and Jaune knew he wasn't the only one who was revisiting that night and feeling the pain of those they lost. "I am thrilled beyond words to hear that Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch has successfully rebuilt Beacon better than it was before, and that is why I wish to donate seven and a half million lien to the school in both funds and resources. Headmistress, if you could come up here please?" Gasps were heard throughout the crowd, and a few scowls were seen on the less politically experienced.

"Headmistress," Weiss began once the gobsmacked woman had made her way to the front. "I was unable to help my alma mater when it needed me, and that is why I am donating this. Now I can help, and should you ever need anything, just let me know." Jaune watched her twitch almost imperceptibly and wondered if the white haired woman had said more than she planned.

Glynda blinked, still obviously surprised at the outpouring of generosity, then nodded and pulled herself together. "Miss Schnee, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on assuming the Presidency of the Schnee Dust Company, and let me tell you just how thankful I am for your support."

"Please enjoy the party, everyone. I look forward to speaking with all of you tonight." Weiss finished her closing remarks, and went back to mingling. Unlike before, her smile seemed a bit more forced. Her laugh sounded a bit more fake, and her patience seemed to be quickly coming to an end. Jaune realized that the conversation about the fall of Beacon, combined with the indirect mention of Ruby, had apparently thrown his friend off her game. Sidling up to her, he opened his mouth.

And choked.

For some reason he hadn't really considered that he was about to talk to _Weiss Schnee,_ his huntsman school crush and a very beautiful woman. (And in that dress, there was no doubt that she was _all_ woman.) He had never been much at wooing the opposite sex. Pyrrha had literally kissed him _right before she died _because he had been too dense to see her advances for what they were.

Still, he wasn't that guy anymore. Not all the deaths at Beacon had been literal.

"Um… Weiss how'reyoudoing?" Well that could have been smoother.

The huntress jumped, obviously surprised, but the smile on her face seemed to lose its forced politeness as she looked at him. "Jaune, how good to see you!" And for the first time ever, she sounded genuine, as though his appearance was a godsend. "I'm so glad that you remembered that we had to discuss that position for your sister."

"We did? We are? What?" Jaune wasn't entirely on board with what was going on, and he nearly took a step back when he saw her eye twitch.

"Your sister? The job I mentioned yesterday? The one I said we needed to talk about _privately_?" The white haired woman was speaking slowly, clearly trying to tell him some- oh.

Well he could cross spy off his list of jobs he'd be good at.

"Right. That one. We can go to your office-"

"Nonsense, the garden is fine for this conversation." Weiss cut him off, annoyance glinting in her eyes. "Come along." Carefully leading him through the crowd, the two eventually made their way outside into the crisp night air. Taking a deep breath, she looked out over the grounds. "You're worse at politics than Ruby was."

"Um…" Jaune wasn't really sure how to take that. "Thanks, I guess?"

His friend giggled, a genuine smile back on her face. "It wasn't meant as a compliment, but if you're going to take it as one you probably shouldn't mention that you did when you go back in. The politicians will probably take offense."

"I suppose so." The blond responded, looking out over the grounds. The air was chilly and smelled like frost. The gardens themselves seemed to glint and sparkle in the moonlight where some of the ice crystals had taken hold, while the pools reflected the full moon back up into the sky. "It's beautiful." He murmured.

"Yes," sighed Weiss. "I can almost understand why my mother hid out here so often when my father was… alive." The pause in her voice held none of the reticence that she'd had when she'd referred to Ruby earlier. It seemed as though it was just _there_, as though Weiss was doing what she was expected to.

Merely playing a part.

Jaune cleared his throat. "Weiss, I wanted to talk to you-"

"About Ruby." Weiss nodded, looking at him. "Yes, I thought you might. That's actually part of why I brought you out here. It's not that I don't want to talk about her-" She paused for a moment, and then amended, "Actually that's a lie. I _don't_ want to talk about her, but I know you won't be happy until you've driven me up the wall insisting I talk about it, so I am willing to discuss it _tomorrow_." Jaune opened his mouth to point out that tomorrow rarely came when she interrupted him. "I need to keep my head on straight tonight, Jaune, and talking about Ruby… well, it's distracting."

"So tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." The heiress—well, president now, he supposed—agreed, looking out over the gardens again. "Just let Klein know when you want to retire, and he'll show you to your room."

"Um," Jaune ran through that sentence in his head. "Weiss, I don't have a room here."

"Jaune, every huntsman and huntress has a room here, even if I have to sleep on the floor of the ballroom." The white haired young woman's tone dipped low as the moon was covered by a cloud. "I cannot do the job any more, as I have… _other_ concerns, but I will not turn my back on who I was- who I _still am_." The way the billionaire spoke about her 'other' concerns made Jaune's neck hair stand up one end. It reminded him a bit of Salem, and the way she seemed bent on a goal she alone could see, no matter the cost. Somehow his friend made her act of charity seem like an act of war. As she turned and walked back inside, murmuring, "We'll talk more tomorrow; it's good to see you," Jaune saw just how hard her eyes had become and again wondered just what it was the white haired girl was planning.

* * *

He was getting another breath of fresh air when someone came out to join him on the balcony.

"Huntsman Arc."

Glancing at the uniformed woman standing in front of him, Jaune gave an awkward bow, recognizing her as Weiss' sister. "Miss Schnee. Good evening."

"_Specialist_ Winter Schnee." The retort was not as biting as it could have been, and he gave a nod, not really wanting the conversation to continue. Unfortunately it seemed his companion had other ideas. "I have heard quite a lot about you from Weiss, and I was curious. What brings you here to speak with her?"

Jaune sighed. First 'Captain' Marvel, and now this woman. Did he have a sign on him somewhere that said "Hey, I obviously have a secret agenda! Please, feel free to ask me about it!"? "Specialist, I'm just here to..." He paused, trying to think of how to say it correctly. Gods, he hated politics! "...touch base with an old friend."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Why did she leave you as though you tried something, then? I have not seen her look that upset in… a while."

Jaune lost his patience. "It's private. If you must know _something_, we put off talking about it until tomorrow." It was so much easier to just say what he was thinking. "If you're so concerned about it, go talk to her. She'll tell you the same thing."

"I- I can't." The specialist's face looked sad and a bit surprised, as though she hadn't meant to say that.

"What? Why?"

"I… made a mistake." Jaune sighed again, motioning for the older woman to join him at the balcony railing. If Weiss wasn't going to talk to him tonight, he might as well try to help. '_Be like Ruby. It wouldn't matter to her who it was, all that matters is that this is probably hurting Weiss too.'_

Winter hesitated for a moment before joining him. "I suppose you want to help?"

"I'm trying to help my friends." Jaune agreed. "I remember how much Weiss idolized you in Beacon, so I'm sure whatever falling out the two of you are going through is hurting her just as much as you."

Winter stared out over the grounds, which were now just dark outlines against the night as clouds continued to move in. "I can't tell you much, because quite a bit of it is classified, but I'll explain what I can. Just know that if I'm using generalizations it's so I can keep my job." Jaune nodded, and the specialist continued. "Weiss and I… had a fight over her coming back. I was goading her, and I may have crossed a line."

"You were trying to convince her you were right, by goading her?" Jaune asked, a bit confused.

"I was trying to throw her off balance." Winter snapped. "Weiss would snap me like a twig if I faced her at full power. I know that, she knows that, and that's why I did whatever I could to keep her from focusing enough to disable me. I knew she didn't want to permanently kill me, even if she was furious, and I relied on her _weakness _to keep me alive."

"I assume it worked, seeing as we're talking now."

Jaune was rewarded with a bitter smile for his attempt at humor. "Oh, it worked. She was- she agreed to come back."

"She didn't want to come back?" Jaune narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you leave her alone then?"

"I… I can't tell you." Winter looked shiftily away. "I just… she came back and met with… someone and found out that our brother, Whitley, wanted her to come back. She accused me of betraying her and planning to trade her away."

"Harsh." Jaune blew out a breath of his own. "I'm sure that she'd listen if you spoke to her now. Weiss burns pretty hot on occasion, says some things, and might get in your face, but she's almost all bark-" He was cut off by a harsh bark of laughter and a pained wince. "What?"

"There was a time that was true, but my sister has changed." Winter gingerly touched her face. "She broke my nose."

"What?" Jaune blinked. "Weiss broke your nose? The girl who complained about cracking a nail when we infiltrated the Land of Darkness actually made a fist and punched you hard enough to shatter cartilage?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "If that surprises you, then I take it you would not expect my sister to have physically picked me up and bodily thrown me out of the room?"

"Nope." Jaune shook his head.

"She did both. She then disowned me in front of my squad."

"I see." The huntsman sighed, looking away from the woman who was giving him hopeful looks. As though _he _could give her the answers she craved. "Well, how long ago was this?"

"A while," Winter evaded.

Jaune shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you, other than to keep reaching out. I'm guessing that whatever you said really crossed a line, if it was bad enough that Weiss immediately jumped to conclusions about your trustworthiness when it looked like you might have betrayed her." He paused for a moment. "What I don't get is why she thought you were trying to trade her to your brother."

"I may have thought that it may happen," Winter allowed carefully, "but I assure you that it was not my choice."

"Well then, whose-"

"Mine." Ironwood stood in the doorway to the balcony, a glass in his hand and his eyebrows making a thin line. "Specialist, do you mind?"

"Of course, sir." Winter snapped her heels together before departing back into the party.

As she passed the door, the General called out. "If you could close the door, please, Schnee. I would rather not have anyone _else_ stopping by to overhear potentially classified information without my knowledge."

Winter's face was red as she looked back, but her voice held no hint of embarrassment. "Yes sir."

As the door closed, Ironwood looked at Jaune, and the huntsman tried not to look guilty. "Good evening, sir."

"Call me James." The General gave a rare smile. "I am one of the few here in Atlas who are aware of the full scope of your adventures. There are those who I feel are deserving of calling me by my first name, and you have more than earned the right."

"Okay… James." Jaune said, trying to get the name to sit on his tongue. It felt weird to apply to the man who had always been so much larger than life. Growing up, the 'Iron General' of Atlas had always been larger than life. He was known as the 'king' of Atlas, since all he needed was a single extra vote on the council to ensure his agendas were followed. Calling someone who was the de facto ruler of a country by their first name was strange to the blonde huntsman.

"You aren't in trouble, Jaune," Ironwood continued pleasantly. "I just wanted to explain a couple of things that my Specialist didn't feel she could tell you. Weiss was wanted by her brother, and he was holding his power over the Dust supply over my head to demand that I find and track her down. Obviously I was opposed to the idea, but I thought that Weiss might agree to face her brother down in the business or political arena." He sighed and leaned on the balcony, looking over the dark grounds as Jaune listened attentively.

"I brought in Winter and explained why I didn't want her on the mission, and I think she saw it as a test of her loyalty. She insisted she could bring her sister back, insisted she was the _only_ _one _who could." The older man took a drink from his glass. "And you know? I think she was right. Had I sent the team without her, Weiss could have just crushed them and told them to leave. That huntress is one of the most powerful I've ever seen. She easily outstrips Glynda, and that woman is not someone you want to mess with." Jaune nodded, shuddering at the memory of his school days food fight, and the look on Glynda's face as she'd marched down the lunchroom, tables, benches, and food magically repairing and removing themselves in a massive malstrom.

"I didn't know that Winter knew about Whitley's attempt at controlling his now world famous sister, though since the boy asked for Winter first, I suppose it wasn't too hard to guess why I suddenly needed the youngest Schnee daughter."

"So she actually planned on selling Weiss out?" Jaune asked, surprised.

"I doubt it. Had I told her to, I think I may have had a revolt on my hands. Winter is well respected in the Hunter Corps, and that may have been my undoing. I think that's why she brought her sister back. She wanted as much help as she could get, rather than fight without Weiss."

_That_ at least made sense to Jaune, and he nodded. "And Weiss?" He expected Ironwood to tell him about the brilliant plan he and the youngest Schnee huntress had created. Instead he got a head shake and a heavy sigh.

"Weiss was sent back to the west almost immediately. She was supposed to meet with me as soon as she got back to Atlas. She never did. She went straight to her home and her ailing father. She then discovered a letter containing evidence that her brother had injected their father with some sort of poison; that letter is said to have killed the courier who carried it, the servant who delivered it, and the recipient."

"He- Wasn't her brother already in control of the company? Why would he need to kill their father?" Jaune asked, confused.

"It's been the question on everyone's minds. Why? The murder was obvious. Whitley claimed he was framed, but the poison was found concealed in an ink bottle that had his fingerprints and on a letter that was clearly his handwriting to a man who still possessed the family fortune. Considering that the letter in question was requesting funds from his father, I can only surmise that he needed more money for some reason." Ironwood sighed. "The problem is the letter we found in his desk." He drew a folded piece of paper from his jacket and handed it to Jaune.

_Dear Whitley,_

_Dear brother, did you think I forgot all about you? **Me**, your sister? I could never forget my little bro! That's why **I'm **writing you, to tell you all about how **I'm going to win**. Remember those games we used to play as kids, where you'd nearly win? And then, at the last moment, I would beat you?_

_Get ready to **lose, **little brother._

_Love,_

_W. S._

Carefully folding the letter, Jaune handed the incriminating paper back to Ironwood. "I assume you've begun an inquiry into Weiss?"

The general nodded. "I looked into it. There's nothing."

Jaune wrinkled his brow. "There has to be something. That's her handwriting. It's a mess, scribbles in some places, but it's obviously hers."

"And as far as I can tell, all she did was taunt her brother." James sighed. "The postmark on the envelope that held this letter was written nearly a month before we picked her up to talk to her and she and her sister fell out."

"So why show it to me?" Asked Jaune. "Unless… you still think she did it." Another thought popped into his head. "Actually, shouldn't that be under lock and key somewhere, so it… doesn't...get...lost…" He trailed off. "She's never going to be caught." He whispered, meeting the General's eyes. "Not with such a powerful figure looking out for her."

Ironwood toasted him, ignoring the snowflakes that had begun to fall as he drank. "I always heard that you were underestimated, Jaune. Now I know it's the truth. There's only a few other people I've shown that letter to. None of them have figured it out. One might, but I don't think she will any time soon. By then there will be too many good things Weiss has done. She plans to help the small Dust businesses like her grandparents did. She's already put price locks on electrical Dust to ensure that utilities are affordable for the average person. Most importantly," the general set down his glass, "she's not demanding that I deliver political favors or treating my military as her own private army."

'_Because she's building her own!'_ Jaune thought, but didn't bother to say it. James Ironwood was not a stupid man. He wouldn't miss something obvious like that, but it was apparent that he was holding the letter in reserve in case Weiss attempted to militarize too much.

"So if I go public?"

"I don't think you will. But if you did, there'd be a mad rush for a letter that would eventually be found to be a fake, written by someone who was paid by Whitley. They would agree to testify in exchange for time served and… well..." Ironwood gave a mirthless smile. "Whitley would be accused of attempting to frame his sister, and that would be the end of any plea deal he would hope to strike."

"So Whitley is innocent."

"As innocent as a man who attempted to extort a country's military can be."

Jaune sighed. "So why tell me this? What purpose could that possibly serve?"

Ironwood leaned back against the railing. "Between your meetings with Weiss and Winter it was only a matter of time before you figured this out on your own. I just needed you to stay quiet, so I filled you in on the big picture first."

"And my _conscience, _James? I'm sure you've heard that that can drive a man insane."

Ironwood shrugged, heading back into the party, glass in hand. "Conscience is a beautiful and terrible thing. The way I look at this, Atlas can have a petty man who has already tried to extort his kingdom in control of Remnant's supply of energy or we can have a ruthless woman who has already put her life on the line to save the entire world. I know which one I choose." Jaune felt his eyes narrow as the older man made his way inside, closing the door on the wintery scene and the furious huntsman's anger and incredulity.

* * *

Jaune woke at exactly five thirty.

It took him a minute to remember where he was, as he woke in an unfamiliar light blue-grey room, but then the evening came back. Weiss' promise, Winter's problem, James' manipulations… '_All I wanted to do was make sure my friends were okay. I found out that Yang needs help, Blake is going home to get better, and Weiss seemed alright… until I found out she may have murdered her father and framed her brother for it. On top of that she seems to be building her own private army for reasons unknown...' _He rubbed his eyes, tired despite his restful sleep. '_Why is nothing ever simple for me?'_

For better or worse, no answers were forthcoming. Deciding that he wasn't likely to get any resolution from just lying there and figuring that sleep wasn't going to come easily either now that his brain had started working, Jaune rolled out of bed, grabbing his scroll as he did so. He made it about halfway through a glass of water, before he realized there were no less than twelve missed calls and sixteen messages from Misthelth, the sister he had been supposed to stay with last night. Swallowing the last of his water a bit harder than he intended, he called his third sister. After a conversation made up of some creative cursing on Misthel's part, and many promises and apologies on Jaune's, he managed to explain where he was and why he hadn't stayed with her the night before.

"...So when Weiss said she had a place to stay, I figured I'd stay at her house for the night." Jaune finished as he laced up his boots. "It meant I could stay longer, and I need to talk to her today anyway."

"So you're going to go back to bed and have that conversation?" The teasing voice that came over the scroll left the boy spluttering, and the laughter that followed that had him roll his eyes. "Kid, you're _way _too easy to tease. I _was _just worried about you. _Now _I'm assuming you have someone to talk to so I'll leave you be." He gave a weak smile as she continued to chuckle at her insinuations. "Don't think that this gets you out of visiting me, though. I expect you to take me out for at least a beer, or something better, before you leave Atlas."

Jaune sighed as he hung up. Glancing at his scroll, he saw that the entire exchange had taken about an hour. Giving his bed a halfhearted look, he turned and made his way outside, hoping to find a servant who could show him to the kitchen where he could make some breakfast.

He was partially successful. He found a servant, who was horrified at the idea of him making his own food, and took him instead to a large dining hall where he found team FNKI finishing their own meal and, surprisingly SSSN.

"Jaune!" Sun waved him over. "Dude, I was worried I wouldn't get to see you! You know Scarlet-"

"Hey."

"-Sage-"

"Yo."

"-and, of course, Neptune!"

"What's up, Jaune?"

Jaune grinned at the group. "Hey guys. It's been a while. How was your trip?"

"Crazy!"

"Awesome!"

"Cool!"

"Terrifying." The entire table stared at Neptune. "What? It was! We had to travel to a _lake_ to get a sword. Then we had to cross an _ocean several times! _And yeah, it was pretty cool to fight the cyclops and the six headed grimm—which lived waaay too close to that whirlpool, by the way—and that evil sorceress who turned you into Grimm, but it was still _water!_ Not to mention, escaping from the group of faunus we were captured by required us to get in barrels and _float down a river!"_ The blue haired boy wailed. "It was absolutely terrifying! I'm scarred for life!"

"Okayyy." Jaune said, digging into the bowl of oatmeal that was placed in front of him. "Soooo did you guys get anything for sailing through a sea of monsters and escaping a bunch of faunus?"

"We had the ship that Sun won in a poker game," Sage commented. "We named it the Titanic Millenium Falcon. It sank."

"Did you get ahold of the people you needed?" Sun asked Jaune quietly as the rest of the table erupted in laughter.

"I'm finishing up right now."

"How was Blake?" The faunus asked, his eyes unusually serious.

"Bottling up her feelings and using them against the Grimm."

Sun sighed. "Of course. And Yang?"

"Getting herself beaten up as penance for losing her sister," Jaune murmured, trying to keep what was _definitely _gossip to only one person.

Sun nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't go myself, man, but I just… knew you were the guy for this, you know?"

"Not really." Jaune replied honestly. "I'm not… I just want to help. You brought up that you couldn't do it and recommended I go. You were right… Ruby would have wanted this."

Sun patted Jaune gently on the shoulder with his tail as he took a bite from his breakfast sandwich. "Hey man, don't be so hard on yourself. Sometimes just wanting to help is all that's needed." He motioned with his sandwich to their hostess, who had just sat down at the end of the table. "She might need specialized help or just a shoulder to cry on. It's up to us to be one of those, and if she needs more, then at least we tried."

Jaune nodded before asking for another bowl of oatmeal. If Weiss wanted to talk to him right away, she wouldn't have had any compunction about interrupting his breakfast. As it was, she clearly didn't care if they put off their conversation for a while.

He ate and joked with SSSN and FNKI. About half way through the meal, Ren and Nora joined the group and the redhead turned it up to eleven, arm wrestling everyone at the table, holding a belching contest (which Kat won), and telling a myriad of dirty jokes, some of which were so outre that even Ren looked confused. Or at least as confused as Ren ever looked.

Eventually Weiss finished her meal, and, after losing her compulsory arm wrestling match to Nora, met Jaune's eyes and cocked her head towards the door.

Jaune nodded, and, rising, followed her out into the hall.

As soon as the door closed behind him, the white haired girl led him through the halls. Today her outfit resembled much more of her classic look: a 'combat skirt,' as she and Ruby had called it, with Myrtenaster at her side. "I hope you had a good time last night? Your room was satisfactory?" Despite her familiar look, she sounded so different from the entitled heiress she'd been when she had met him at Beacon all those years ago.

"It was fine." He responded quietly, noticing that the halls were alive with movement as pictures were being carefully removed, statues replaced, and, in some cases, walls repainted.

"Good." Weiss smiled, though it was less genuine than the one he had seen on her last night when he'd first run into her. "I thought we could have our meeting in the botanical garden."

"Um, sure." Jaune said, not really sure if his opinion was being asked for. "Do you want to?" Weiss sighed tiredly, and he remembered that she had been working quite a bit lately. He also doubted she had gotten much sleep the night before. "We can do this later, too," he added quickly. "I'm not in any hurry to be anywhere in particular, and I have a feeling you could use a bit more sleep." The white haired girl shook her head.

"No. I doubt I'll be able to get any restful sleep until we have dealt with this...issue." Weiss pointed to a staircase, then began descending it. Jaune paused.

"Um, I thought you said we'd be going to a garden." He might not be very good with plants, but he was fairly certain that they needed sunlight to grow, and underground seemed to be the opposite of where the sun could be found.

Weiss glared up at him. "We _are_. Now are you going to come along, or are you going to stand there all day looking confused?" He hung his head and followed as she continued, "Really, as if I don't know my way around my own home, Jaune!"

"I'm sorry." He sighed, hurrying to catch up with her, and idly noting that the staircase went a lot deeper than he'd thought it would. "I just figured that, you know, sunlight for plants… underground doesn't exactly seem like the best place for that."

"Hmmmm. I _suppose _you have a point." The huntress conceded with a sniff as they descended deeper. "My family can be a bit… _eccentric_ when it comes to building things. I can see how you might get confused." As the two continued down he was about to point out that eccentric might be a bit of an understatement, considering they were apparently going into an underground biosphere, when they finally reached the bottom of the staircase. Weiss paused in front of what looked like a reinforced steel door. "Ah, yes, here we are." A quick code was punched into the door, and it slid up into its frame. He gasped as he walked inside.

The humidity was tangible, though that was only the first thing he noticed. What really caught his attention was the size, and the _colors!_ He was standing on a balcony that overlooked the biome. Trees of every type, many of them of a jungle variety, stretched on in front of him and to his right as far as his eyes could follow. Further off to his left just make out what looked like grassland. What truly fascinated him, though, was the Dust. It seemed to be infused into the trees and grasses, and as animals appeared and vanished among the foliage he swore that they too had Dust on or in them.

"This, in my opinion, is the true jewel of the Schnee family dynasty." Weiss said, wistfully looking over the biome. "My great-great-grandmother had this idea, to capture a bit of the world away from where the Grimm could get it. She tucked it away but couldn't get it to live, so my great-great-grandfather began to research how to use Dust to keep it alive." She smiled. "Everything in here is… _magical._ I often wonder if this is what the world Salem and Ozpin lived in looked like." She held out her hand, a ball of pure magical energy coalescing above her palm. "My father never knew about this. He wasn't _of _the family, and after mother realized all he wanted was her money, she never told him. Grandfather also never knew about it, which is why he scoured the world for Dust Veins." She turned back as the ball collapsed at her touch. "It's become a secret of the _true _Schnees." She met Jaune's eyes. "You _will not __**ever**_ speak of this place, Jaune."

Jaune nodded earnestly. "O-of course, Weiss." He wanted to ask why she had even showed it to him, why she trusted _him_ of all people with a secret of this magnitude, but she turned almost reverently back to look over the jungle below, leaving him to wonder if he should interrupt.

"There's a tram a bit further in," Weiss said eventually, motioning to an elevator to their left. The two slid in, and the huntress punched a button and the elevator began to descend.

Looking through the glass, Jaune finally asked what had started eating at him. "Weiss, why are you showing me this? Why not your team or your friends?"

The white haired girl sighed. "You are a dear friend, Jaune, and I can tell you're in over your head, but did you ever stop to consider that I trust you?" She glanced up for a moment, before looking back 'outside.' "You saved my life on more than one occasion. You saved Ruby's life, Yang's, Blake's; you are literally the only other person I would show this to besides my team." She paused for a moment, then amended. "And possibly Ren and Nora, I suppose, but I do this because I trust that you won't try to take advantage of it."

The doors slid open with a hiss as they reached the ground. Not hesitating a bit, the huntress stretched for a moment before immediately walking briskly into the jungle. "I come from _old_ money, Jaune. This biosphere is _still _being expanded. Experiments are occasionally done on cuttings taken from the trees or pulled from soil samples." She paused for a moment, motioning for him to join her, before continuing into the foliage. "The lighting is state of the art, good for creating the synthetic sunlight the trees need, or rather needed, to stay alive." She pointed to the ceiling, which had a bluish tinge to it. "We don't have perfect weather controls, of course, but they're good enough that we can recreate a jungle atmosphere in this portion, a dry, hot atmosphere for the desert, a cold, wet, and snowy portion for the arctic and mountainous regions… you get the idea."

Jaune wanted to protest that he really _didn't_ get the idea, but his quarry was nimbly moving through the underbrush, seemingly unconcerned for the other half of her party of two. Hurrying and debating on simply pulling out his sword and just hacking, he barely kept up with Weiss, finally arriving at the base of a tree covered with vines, branches, and assorted grasses and sporting a well hidden door in the trunk. Weiss opened it grandiosely, motioning for him to go down the ramp inside. Carefully making his way down the ramp, he found the tram that she had referenced, though it wasn't facing the way he expected. Instead of the horizontal view he was anticipating, the car was looking straight up.

"A sky tram?" He asked, looking at his guide. She smiled and nodded.

"My grandmother had it installed, actually, hence the large replica of Beacon outside. She convinced my grandfather that it would be 'fashionable' to be seen as eccentric like her father and grandfather. Most of the strange buildings around the estate were 'eccentric projects' that we, as the Schnee women, would quietly funnel funds out of and into our own little world down here." She sighed as she opened the tram doors, showing an interior that wasn't as sideways as Jaune had thought it would be.

"My father tied down my mother's access to the family accounts." Weiss added bitterly. "He refused, quite understandably really, to take part in the tradition of adding to the estate." She pushed the 'door close' button a bit harder than was necessary as the two walked in. "He also refused to let my mother do the same, and that's why she doesn't have anything added here." Weiss sighed, programming the computer before finally buckling herself into one of the seats. Jaune followed suit.

The tram moved at a fair clip out of its docking bay and eventually shot out of the top of the tree the two had entered. Jaune gaped at the view he was now afforded.

They were on the ceiling, or at least the tram was attached to it. From here he had a good view of the entire complex; and what a view it was! He could see a different biome in almost every direction. Beyond the grassland he thought he could see a desert, and further in a large mountain dominated the skyline, snow capping its peaks.

As he placed his hands on the glass, he realized that the interior had, apparently, rotated. Sensing his surprise, Weiss explained, "It's on a gyroscope so we can stay perfectly level. My grandmother was in a wheelchair for most of her life and wished to avoid sliding around within the tram. There used to be a path through the jungle, but Mother allowed it to be overgrown once Grandmother died."

"This is beyond beautiful, Weiss."

A heavy sigh came from behind him, and he turned to see his friend giving the land below them a wistful look. "This Jaune...this is proof that we, as humans, don't _need_ the gods." The words set off alarms in the huntsman's head

"What?" He gave the white haired girl an incredulous look. "You aren't saying…"

"Probably not." Weiss seemed to come back to herself with a bit of a shake, dismissing his concern with a wave of her hand. "I see no reason to treat the gods like… well, like deities, really, but I'm hardly going to encourage something _stupid _like an uprising against them." She chuckled, sitting daintily on one of the couches as she did so. "After all, we _all_ saw how that turned out." Her laugh became a bit more forced, and the supposed mirth didn't reach her eyes.

Jaune moved to one of the chairs across from the president of the SDC and gingerly sat down, subconsciously noticing how comfortable it was. "What _are _you suggesting, then, Weiss?"

The huntress pursed her lips, clearly displeased. "I _highly_ doubt that was the reason you've been badgering me to talk to you, Jaune." She narrowed her eyes a bit. "What is it you have _really _been meaning to ask me since last night?"

'_Where do I begin?'_ Jaune thought, looking over the impossible landscape far below them. "Are you okay?"

"Never better!" She chirped, sounding quite happy. "I have my family's wealth to do with as I see fit. My father isn't trying to control my life at every turn. My mother is finally out on her own and able to live her life however she wants." She laughed, and it sounded much more genuine than the one she had given before. "Jaune, I feel better than I have in a _long time_. I have a purpose and plans! I have _so many plans!_" The huntsman felt like his friend was about to punctuate her last sentence with a cackle but caught herself at the last moment. Instead she continued much more calmly. "I have a _chance_ now_,_ Jaune."

"A chance for what?"

"To change the world." Her eyes glittered dangerously, and the blonde got the feeling she wasn't just talking about donating money and bribing politicians.

"How?"

"Uh-uh." She shook her head. "No questions about my plans. I may be willing to show you my family's most well protected secret, but that doesn't mean I'll tell you _mine_. Next question."

"Um." He paused for a moment, looking out over a lake they were racing over. "Winter."

"What about her?" The temperature seemed to drop, and Jaune swore he saw frost begin to form on the windows.

"What ha-?"

"We fought." Her voice was frigid.

"Why?"

"Because." Her tone hadn't changed, and after a few moments had passed, he realized she wasn't going to elaborate.

"What about?"

"Family."

Trying not to liken the conversations to the ones he occasionally had with his four-year-old niece, the huntsman continued to pry. "Why don't you talk to her?"

"No." Jaune was pretty sure he could see his breath, and he was certain that if he looked up there would be icicles forming on the ceiling. "She made her choice. She can _live_ with it."

"She's sorry."

"She should be."

"Ironwood thinks she wanted you there to help overthrow him if he was _actually_ going to hand you over."

"Then he's still the same stupid idealist that made us lose Beacon." Her icy glare didn't let up. "One more question on this topic. Then I either throw you out or we change the subject. _Your choice_."

Jaune thought for a moment. "Do you think that _could _have been her plan?"

She considered it, which was more than he had expected. "Honestly? I suppose, though it doesn't really fit with the way my-_that woman_ has acted over the years." At his curious look she glared, but answered his unasked question. "Winter has a one track mind when it comes to General Ironwood, and that track has never failed to lead _straight _to following his orders without question. The suggestion that she wouldn't listen to this _single _order and would attempt a coup seems, quite frankly, ridiculous. I don't know why you decided to listen to such a ludicrous claim by her-"

"James told me that, not her."

"Then the esteemed general is either an idiot or an overconfident idealist, and I literally just told you which one I think it is."

Her posture told him that she was done with the topic. He sighed and finally asked the question he'd come for.

"What about Ruby?"

Where Winter's name had been a catalyst for cold anger, Ruby's was completely different. Weiss deflated, then sighed heavily. "I knew you were going to ask this question... and yet it still hurts." She looked out the window; the tram was turning around over an ocean or another large body of water, and her eyes reflected the blue far below. "I miss her." She finally whispered. Slightly louder, she continued. "When I saw her take that hit… I was too far- too _useless_." Her hands balled into fists. "I was her _partner._ I was the person who was _never_ supposed to be away from her side, because that's what nearly killed her when she was with JNPR. And I failed." She turned at him, a look of pure loathing on her face. "The gods." She spit out the words, and then followed with the action itself. Jaune nearly pinched himself. Weiss Schnee, the princess of manners, actually doing something like that?

War really did change people.

"Those… things made the problem, blamed us for not cleaning it up, demanded _we_ take responsibility for _their _actions." Blood was starting to leak from the huntress' fists as her nails dug into her palms, but she didn't seem to notice. "My- Ruby was _dead_ because of _stupid grudge_ that two overgrown children had against a single mortal who was just desperate to have her love back." Her eyes narrowed as she looked back out the window.

"Weiss-" He began, but she interrupted.

"Salem was a vicious, murderous _bitch _who had nothing left." Her low voice cut across him. "But when I realized Ruby was gone, _was never coming back_, I realized just how right she was." Against his self preservation instincts screaming for him to stay away, Jaune gently placed a hand on her arm, but she just shrugged it off. "I wanted them to bring her back. I wanted her to just do _one last thing_. To tell me that I was being silly, or mean, or even just to see her smile again." She rubbed away the tears forming in her eyes. "When the gods told us that they weren't going to fix what _they_ broke with _their _blunder...I nearly made the same mistake Salem did." She smirked. "Actually, I _did _make the same mistake the witch did." She looked at Jaune, her eyes a million miles away. "I stabbed the god of light, and then I stabbed the god of darkness. Again and again." Her tone was that of a giddy child on their birthday who had just gotten everything they wanted. "I stabbed them both, and as they prepared to annihilate every vestige of me, Blake stepped in between." She snorted. "They _didn't _kill me, because they didn't know what a Faunus was; can you believe it? They let us, humanity, live, because they didn't want to kill an 'undeserving' non-human intelligent species at the same time." She shook her head. "The gods play by playground rules. Rules that they make up as they go along, as long as they are in charge."

"Um," Jaune said, feeling stupid. Really, though, he wasn't sure what _to _say. He had expected Weiss to be suffering from loss, both from losing her sister and her best friend. Not… not coming to terms with the fact that humanity was on its third chance at survival because of the very race that they had continuously run roughshod over. Or that, apparently, his friend had stabbed a god.

Two gods.

Multiple times.

Now his head hurt.

Sighing, the huntress sat back onto the couch. "I was afraid at first that the gods had cursed me like they did Salem."

"Why?" Jaune was curious.

"Because Salem just wanted to be with Ozpin." The white haired girl said sadly. "All she wanted was to be with the person she loved, and they took it from her. Forever."

"They brought him back." Jaune felt this was relevant information, but Weiss shook her head.

"They brought him back after Salem had tried _everything_ to get to him. She sacrificed everything to be with him." She began counting off on her fingers. "She sacrificed her morals, her honesty, her entire race, and finally..." The huntress met his eyes, and he sat back. "Finally, she sacrificed her sanity, all in a desperate attempt to be with the person she loved."

Jaune could see that the white haired huntress believed it, but what really frightened him was how...broken she looked. If the eyes were windows to the soul, then this girl was broken beyond all recognition. "Weiss, are you-?"

"I told you, I'm fine!" She snapped. "I _have_ to be. Salem waged a direct war against the gods, and it cost her _everything_, including her love." She broke eye contact with him. "I have nearly everything I need now. That's why I'm _done_."

Jaune stood up. "I'm not going to let you do that."

Weiss glanced at him, raising an eyebrow and crossing her legs primly as she did so. "First, you couldn't stop me if you wanted to. Second, I doubt you know what it is I'm going to do." She chuckled a bit.

"Death isn't the way out-"

She looked horrified. "Jaune! No way in the world would that _ever_ be the answer." Sighing, she motioned for him to sit down. "No, I just want to lose the gods their followers, that's all. An anti-religion if you will." She acted as though she was simply talking about planting a garden, not overthrowing all powerful beings that made the world.

"Um, won't that upset them, though?" He carefully sat down, far from at ease.

Weiss shrugged. "Probably, but I don't care. It's not like they can wipe us out just because we don't worship the ground they walk on."

"Didn't you say they play by their own rules?" The huntsman pointed out. "I'm pretty sure they would annihilate us for less than that."

"Maybe." The white haired huntress replied unconcernedly. "But I doubt it. The more arrogant someone is, the more likely that they'll try to 'fix' us." She grinned. "Really, it's more likely that they'll leave again to show us how much better it is with them around." She waved to the outside, which was still speeding by far below. "Enter the biosphere."

"To do what?" Jaune asked, confused.

Her smile was practically feral. "Magic will forever be locked to Dust except for a few… select individuals, unless we can somehow integrate it into the land again."

"You want to reintroduce natural magic to the world?" Jaune shook his head. "Won't that just make people like the gods _more_?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not if it's because of humanity."

"And you're sure it'll work?" The huntsman asked, more curious than anything.

"Not at all," The billionaire acknowledged. "But I have backup plans, and no-" She added as he opened his mouth to ask. "-I am not going to tell you those. They're secret."

He nodded, staring back over the landscape as they returned to the jungle they had started in. "I think you're being optimistic that you'll be around when the gods finally lose patience and leave us to our own devices again."

"I'm being optimistic about a lot of things." The huntress laughed. "That is one of those things that _really_ doesn't worry me. I have _plans_, remember?"

Jaune ignored the shiver that went down his spine at that statement. "So, what about your team?"

For the first time in their conversation, Weiss genuinely frowned. "Blake and Yang… Yes, I suppose I will have to do something about them..."

"What?"

"Hm?" She looked up and gave her head a little shake. "Well, they're probably not doing too well if your presence here is any indication."

Jaune felt like that wasn't what the billionaire had meant, but he decided to let it be. Weiss was many things, most of which he didn't understand, but she wasn't the kind to turn on her friends. "No, they really aren't." Much of the conversation back upstairs was spent explaining what he had learned about Yang and Blake, the conversations, and what it sounded like the two would be doing.

"That's _exactly_ something Yang would do." Weiss growled as he finished telling her about what had been happening in Beacon. "To do that to Blake, after _everything_… oh, we will be having words, Xiao Long."

Jaune shifted slightly. "Blake is probably back at Menagerie by now-" He was cut off by a snort from his companion.

"I would bet every penny I own that Blake made it no further than the docks of Menagerie before she was back on a boat to Beacon." The huntress shook her head. "Actually, I'd be shocked if she made it _on_ a boat to Menagerie in the first place. If she didn't go directly there, I'll eat my blade."

Jaune looked concerned. "But she _needed _to go home-"

"No, she needed to _mourn_." Weiss disagreed. "You were right about that, at least, but the place she needs to do that is with the person she loves." She sighed, quietly adding, "That's just how she is."

Deciding to leave it alone, Jaune looked at his watch and blanched. "It's almost three PM!" His scroll then erupted in a buzz of missed calls and unread messages. Glancing at them, he sighed. "And my sister is going to kill me."

Weiss smiled sadly. "You should go see her. I'll have my driver take you."

Jaune shook his head. "No. I don't need to inconvenience you any more than I already have-"

"Nonsense." Weiss shook her head. "I want to meet your sister anyway."

* * *

The ride was full of small talk, with a major question in the front of Jaune's mind:

Why did Weiss want to meet his sister?

It wasn't like she had shown an interest in his family before, though her own family, fractured the way it was, might be a factor. Hopefully her meeting with Misthelth would see her want to make up with her own sibling. The one she hadn't framed for murder.

His thoughts were interrupted as they pulled up in front of a high-class restaurant. He mentally cursed. "Um, Weiss, Misthel doesn't know about any sort of dress code."

Weiss gave him a disarming smile that looked a little out of place on her. "That's fine, Jaune. If we have to go shopping we can. It's the least I can do for a friend like you." He tried not to shiver at the ever-so-slight sinister emphasis she put on the word 'friend.'

Messaging his sister their location, he sat back to wait for her response. Surprisingly there was only a moment between his sitting back, and a sudden flurry of messages, followed by a phone call before he could even open them.

Sighing at his sister's impatience, he answered. "Hey Misthel."

"When I said 'something better' I was thinking of a harder drink." Misthelth wasted no time with greetings, disbelief in her voice even as he heard shuffling in the background as she no doubt hurried to get ready. "Really, kid, if I wasn't your sister, I'd think you were trying to make a good impression on me for some reason."

"_Definitely_ not." Jaune ignored his sister's laughter at his tone. "I was invited by-" He noticed that Weiss gently indicated that he shouldn't mention her. "-A friend, the same one I talked about this morning." The white haired girl threw her hands up in exasperation.

"The girlfriend of yours? The one you were sleeping with?"

"_At her house, Misthel!_ Nothing else!" He could already feel his face heating up, and judging by the eye roll from Weiss she had no trouble guessing what it was they were talking about.

"Mhmmm." His sister responded, with the tone of someone who _clearly_ didn't believe what they were being told. "I might have bought that if the two of you weren't taking me to a restaurant regularly frequented by the uber rich." Her voice suddenly dropped. "Good gods, Jaune, you didn't get her pregnant, did you?"

"No!" Jaune squawked, his face probably resembled a cherry at this point.

"Hmmmm." There was no humor in his sister's voice this time. "I hope not, for your sake. If she's taking us to dinner at Rick's she might be trying to butter you up to give you bad news. If she is, I hope for your sake that her dad's nice. Especially since you know that we, your sisters, won't be."

He sighed. "Trust me when I say that is _really_ not a problem. How soon will you be here?"

"That depends on whether or not I can find my good heels." Misthelth replied testily, clearly not pleased at the sudden change. "I have _nothing_ good to wear, and if you're already there…"

Jaune rolled his eyes. Muting his scroll, he looked at his fellow passenger. "She wants to know if we'll pick her up."

Weiss shrugged. "Sure, where's she live?"

Jaune shrugged, and gave the address. Weiss turned to talk to the driver, while he went back to the conversation. "Why don't we pick you up?"

"You don't have to-"

Jaune nodded. "No, but we're already on our way. We'll be there in-" he glanced at Weiss, who mouthed 'fifteen' at him. "-fifteen minutes. Think you can be ready by then?"

"Nope." The cheerful voice came back at him. "But I'll walk out naked if I have to, so don't worry. See ya."

The click from the other end of the line did little to make Jaune feel better. "You better not." He muttered.

"So, do I even _want_ to know?" Weiss asked, a bit more warily than he'd expected.

He thought for a moment. "No." He decided. "Ignorance is bliss, in this case."

Weiss snorted. "Normally I'd disagree, but judging by the way your face lit up like a beacon a couple of times, I'd say that I _am_, in fact, better off not knowing. Besides," she continued after a moment, "I have a feeling that I may find out one way or another tonight."

With those ominous words, she sat back, and the trip passed by quickly. He messaged his sister as they turned onto her street.

"_You ready yet?"_

"_Oh, definitely not. Give me a moment to strip off my clothes and I'll be out."_

He sighed and was about to respond when he saw that his sister was standing—fully clothed, thank the gods—right outside the door to her apartment.

"_We're pulling up right now."_

His sister looked at the limo, did a double-take, and then, even though he couldn't hear her, let loose a string of profanity so vile that she probably would have been arrested for public indecency if someone had heard. He opened his door. "I'm glad to see you too."

Misthelth smiled, though it looked a bit more nervous than he was used to seeing on her. "Jaune!" Climbing in, she gave him a hug, squeezing a bit tighter than was strictly necessary, before turning to his friend. "Miss Schnee, I didn't realize you were friends with my brother."

Weiss smiled politely. "I believe that we can be a bit more familiar tonight, Misthel. After all, we'll be eating together here in just a bit. Please call me Weiss."

Misthelth nodded, obviously a bit taken back. Jaune, however, was more than a little surprised. "You two know each other?"

Glancing across at the huntress, clearly a bit nervous, his sister replied. "Um, you could say that. Jaune, meet my boss. Boss, my little brother Jaune."

Weiss chuckled. "I've known Jaune for quite some time, Misthel. I thought you knew that."

Jaune agreed. "I know I told you about her when I was still in school."

"Well…" His sister sighed. "It's not exactly like you brought up that she was a _Schnee_, you know, one of the wealthiest people in the world."

"But I thought it was obvious!" Jaune pointed out, still incredulous that his sister worked for _Weiss_, of all people.

Weiss laughed. "To be incredibly fair, Jaune, I thought it was apparent too. After all, when we stayed with your other sister… um-"

"Saphron." Jaune and Misthelth supplied at the same time.

"- Saphron didn't make a big deal about who I was." She looked at Misthelth, who was still obviously nervous. "I thought that she already told you."

Jaune glanced at his sister. "So you hired my sister?"

Weiss shrugged. "Well of course. I had traveled with, fought beside, and worked with you for years. If she had even a tenth of your tenacity and drive I knew that I would have an excellent worker. She was everything I wanted and more."

Misthelth blushed slightly, looking away at the praise. "Really Mis- Weiss, I just do my job."

"You do." Weiss agreed. "Not to mention volunteering for… _tasks_ that I normally wouldn't ask of you."

His sister shrugged. "I know what needs to be done to accomplish goals. And the bonuses are nice."

Jaun shook his head, ignoring the gnawing in his gut. Misthelth wasn't an idiot, nor was she a doormat. If she didn't like what she was doing, she would quit, boss be damned. "Did Misthel ever tell you why she quit the army?"

"Oh no. Jaune, we are _not _talking about my days there."

Weiss shook her head. "Not really. I knew she served with the huntress of my sister's company before Winter was transferred, but most of her record was classified, and I didn't really look too much further."

Jaune grinned, pushing his sister back as she made to jump and put her hand over his mouth. "So I guess you never heard about the Orangutan Incidents?"

Weiss leaned forward. "'Incidents?' As in more than one?" At Misthelth's groan, she smiled. "Winter told me about _an_ incident, but if there are more than one, I've _got_ to hear about them."

Misthelth sighed. "Okay. Jaune, I'm not going to let _you _tell the story, because you don't tell it with the right… feeling." She grinned a bit mischievously. "Oh, and boss? This is all hypothetical, right?"

The white haired huntress shrugged, a matching grin on her own face. "Of course, and I promise to match each of your stories with one of my own."

When the two women glanced at him, Jaune sighed. "Yeah okay, the statute has passed for _most_ of my adventures. I'll do so too."

As they pulled up outside Rick's, Weiss grinned. "I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

It was late when they finally dropped Misthelth off at her apartment. "I had fun tonight Weiss. Thanks for inviting me out."

Weiss laughed. "I'm afraid that I invited myself _along, _Misthel, but I'm glad it didn't interfere with your night."

"I'm just glad you're not pregnant!" Jaune's sister immediately covered her mouth, eyes wide in shock. "Oh my gods, I did not just say that." She grabbed Jaune and shook him a bit. "Jaune, please tell me that I did not just tell my boss that I was glad she wasn't having your baby!"

Jaune sighed, ignoring Weiss' surprised, and highly amused looks. "You _did_, and to make matters worse, you just admitted you thought I was the father."

Misthelth stopped shaking him and sighed. "Well I guess I'll be fired on Monday, but that's future Misthelth's problem. Current Misthelth needs to go and sleep off her alcoholic stupor." She climbed out of the limo. "Good night guys! Jaune, I expect to party like this every time you come to visit me now! Byee." She flounced down the sidewalk, pausing at the door to wave before going inside.

"You aren't going to fire my sister, are you?" Jaune asked, as he closed the limo's door.

Weiss shook her head. "Not likely. She's good at what she does, and she does _a lot_." She sighed. "Besides, I like her, she tries hard, and she's got her own problems to live with. I cover for her when… _mysterious circumstances_ occur, and she keeps my hands clean." The billionaire ignored his concerned look. "I told you I wanted to talk about your sister's job with me last night." She chuckled darkly as he nodded. "You showed me that you don't really _get_ insinuations, so I'll be perfectly honest with you now. Misthelth is as talented as they come, but if you try to mess up my plans, Jaune, she _won't_ be the first one I take out my anger on." Her eyes glinted dangerously. "I make no promises that I won't use her to do so, though. I suggest that if you were thinking about trying anything, that you reconsider." She smiled coldly. "I have no compunctions about removing problems that... _inconvenience _me, Jaune. Don't become one, and you won't be fighting your sister to your death."

"You don't know my sister if you think she'll turn on family that easily."

Weiss smirked. "Didn't you hear? Neo escaped last week." His eyes widened, as she continued, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "Apparently she got her hands on a voice recorder of some kind." She met his eyes. "It's said to be indistinguishable from the real thing."

Jaune fought back the urge to flinch away, meeting his _former_ friend's gaze steadily. "How is it Yang can be so blind about who she is when her teammate has already become more terrible than the enemy they worked to defeat?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Jaune, I am not out to rule mankind or see it annihilated because of some wrong I feel was done to me. I _am _out for revenge, and I _am _willing to go a little further than may be considered… proper." She shifted slightly, and the huntsman fought back the urge to grab his blade in case she attacked.

"You've sent people to prison who are innocent. Murdered your family. Set up a proxy army-"

"And tied the hands of the only man on Remnant who could do anything about it." Weiss smirked. "I _suggest_ that my team doesn't learn the full extent of my plans, because I _will _know who told them, and that could lead to _unpleasant _circumstances."

Jaune glared coldly at the manipulative woman in front of him. "Why would you do this, Weiss? Why turn on everyone and everything you know to be right? Why become a villain like Salem?"

"Salem nearly conquered the world once." Weiss replied, her self-assured smirk still in place. "And unlike her, I don't have a love to follow me through the rest of my life. I only get one, which means that I need to make it as _effective_ as possible. If I am a villain like Salem as you claim, then I welcome it, because I would rather be an effective villain than a useless hero."

"You've changed," Jaune said sadly, looking at the huntress who stood for so much _good _once.

"Losing your best friend, someone who could have been- Well, that doesn't matter anymore." The limo pulled to a stop, and Weiss smiled. "This is where you leave."

Glancing out the window, Jaune saw an airship warming up its engines. "I feel like that's a trap."

The billionaire shrugged. "Might be. But did you really think I would tell you everything and then kill you? That would be a bit pointless, right?" The huntsman gave a cautious nod. "You're my fail-safe, Jaune." Weiss looked at him earnestly. "I've calculated a high chance of success. My plans have been tweaked until they are nearly perfect, but there's still a chance of failure. I don't want someone else to do the same things I'm doing."

"You have too much power, and only you should be allowed to?" Jaune tried hard not to sneer, but he wasn't entirely successful. "Do you really think that highly of yourself, Weiss? That you're that perfect?"

She stared at him curiously for a few moments before finally answering. "Of course not Jaune. I may be _close_ to perfect, but I know I'm not." She gave a little smile at that. "No, I doubt that I should be _allowed_ the power I have-"

"Then give it up." Jaune interrupted, ignoring the pleading lilt that had entered his voice. "Go home, destroy your plans, do the _right thing_-"

"And let the gods get away with their murder of Ruby? Never-"

"The gods didn't kill Ruby, that was Salem-"

"Their agent, it was as good as them-"

"Yang took care of her-"

"Yes, well, she shouldn't have!" Weiss was breathing hard, her eyes narrowed and angry. "Ruby wasn't her partner, she wasn't _her_ best friend, she was _all that and more_ to me! Yang got her revenge, and I never even got a chance to- to-!" She started to tear up and furiously swiped the tears out of her eyes. "I wasn't close enough to help Ruby when she needed it. The _least _I can do is make sure that the _things_ that caused her death have some sort of justice meted out to them."

"But Salem-"

The huntress held up her hand. "Salem was a _mistake_ the gods made. They haven't admitted that, and unless they do, and _apologize,_ I am not going to stop." She glared. "I know you will tell the world what kind of monster I am, Jaune, just as soon as my grip slips on the leash I have on you right now. I'm counting on it." She paused, then continued in a whisper, tears still running down her face. "I _am_ the last person you want to have this kind of power, and that's why I want to be the last person to have it." She met his eyes, and he saw her for the first time since seeing her at the party (was it really only yesterday? It felt like so much longer, lifetimes ago now) the same scared girl, desperate for a friend. A victim of a life so out of control that she was doing something, _anything_, to call her own. She didn't want to go down a villain, but if it was for Ruby she would do it. Just like before, though, she would rebel in her own little way.

Indecisive to the last.

"You're sure you want to do this, Weiss?" A nervous nod was his only answer.

"Fine." He hardened his face. "I'll do what you want, but only for the friendship you're _spitting _on by doing this. The friendship we _had._"

Maybe she was all cried out from earlier, because when he said that, she sighed as though relieved. Before she could say anything else, he pushed the door open, slamming it behind him.

No one could accuse her of making sense, but it still hurt to lose a friend as close as her.

* * *

_**From the President's Desk**_

_Notes:_

_Penny called, is on her way to meet Ruby. I think Jaune is going there too. Will leave a message for her._

_Tai called too. Is worried about me. Sweet, should do something nice for him soon. Ideas?_

(Below are a few gift ideas, none of which seem very inspired, though there's a circled CRS.)

_Blake and Yang missed our usual call times. Slightly concerned, _(the rest is scribbled over, though the name Jaune can be made out)

_Nevermind, just busy._

_Jaune agreed, surprising, but good._

_**I'm sorry…**_

* * *

**And thus ends Jaune's visit to team RWBY.  
****But you didn't think that was the end, did you?  
****Nah, there's an _Epilogue, _heheheh!  
****Now that won't be out until I get the rest of the Four Corners cycle up (which is gonna take some time, Blake's is kicking me, as is my muse) and all are ****_tentatively _slated to be up in the next couple years...  
****We'll see, I started writing this in August of last year, and it only recently got published. So you can guess that the other three might take some time.  
****Might.**

**As for the 'final' thanks, I appreciate everyone who commented, liked, and followed. **  
**I hated the flames. But you guys were worth a laugh, and a drink, so it wasn't all bad.**  
**I'm marking this complete for now, but know that there is an epilogue to be posted.**

**Feel free to complain in the comments.**

**Title credit goes to my friend's tattoo artist. (remember when these just used to go to my Beta's? Man this site's diversified.)  
Thank you again to all who read.**

**R&R**


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